Some time ago we read an article online about how to avoid a Brassica massacre in your garden. Then we promptly forgot all about it and got on with our busy days. Until today, that is, when we stepped out into the garden this morning to find that those pesky White Butterflies that had been hanging around in ones and twos for the last month had suddenly become gangs of flappy fliers.

Pieris rapae

Source: http://daisychaineconursery.com/cabbage-white-butterfly.html

Know your Foe

There are two types of White Cabbage Butterfly that originated in Europe but have since been spread by humans as far afield as North America, Austrailia and New Zealand. The two types are not very imaginatively named when it comes to common parlance, i.e one is called the Small White and the other the Large White. The two species, Pieris rapae (small) and Pieris brassicae (large) are visually similar but differ in size and wing spots. The caterpillars they produce are also of a distinct difference in size and colouration with those of Pieris brassicae being the bigger pest, literally.

Luckily we seem to be dealing with only the smaller of the two varieties.

Pieris rapae eggs.

Pieris rapae caterpillar.

In this enlarged image of the picture above you can see a newly hatched caterpillar next to another egg. Quite the size difference.

If you are having trouble finding these well camouflaged wee beasties then look for the gooey green frass (poo) they leave behind. A caterpillar is sure to be close by.

Pieris rapae females lay single eggs on the underside of leaves while Pieris brassicae females lay groups of 40 to 100 eggs. Yikes! It is no wonder that these little guys can decimate many metres squared of Brassicas in very short order.
Hungry, hungry caterpillars indeed.

Who else had this book as a child?

Solutions

For some time we have been simply picking the caterpillars off of our Broccoli and Cabbage plants and feeding them to the chickens and this has been, if not eradicating the pests entirely, at least keeping them in check. However as the caterpillars, by all accounts, taste bad the chickens are usually much more interested in just the leaves.

Now with the sudden elevation in the number of mating pairs and mothers looking for a tasty plant to lay their eggs on we remembered the gist of the article we had read.

In short, it is very easy to make decoys that confuse the Butterflies into thinking that they have to find somewhere else to lay their eggs. This is apparently because they are very territorial while at the same time being somewhat blind.
If a prospective mother sees that another butterfly has chosen a plant to lay her eggs she is quite likely to move on in search of something not already claimed.

With this in mind Wench set about making us a few simple decoys using some basic materials. A white plastic bag, a pair of scissors and a Sharpie.

Next, we placed them around the garden.

Although it remains to be seen if they will work as it may be the case that we should have had them out in the garden months ago.

Well, there is always next year. Although we still seem to be getting enough to eat from our Brassicas so maybe sharing the harvest isn't so bad.

Cheeky!

Thanks for reading.

Please check out our other gardening, recipe, homesteading and creative related posts from the last week.

• How to make your posts look a bit better so maybe somebody will like your effort?
• Pirate Pantry Preserves
• Crab Apple Jelly Recipe Video
• Rainbow Chard Stalks
• Making Coriander Powder Video

Remember! Ye ARR what ye eat.

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