Thursday 31 July 2014

Photographs of the Life Stages of the Brassica Caterpillar


A child might find joy and delight in the pretty playful ways of the white butterfly that flits around the garden this time of the year, but for the gardener the white butterfly is an ominous sign - caterpillars! Growing brassica plants among the huge slug population that thrives in our damp mild climate brings enough heartache without the added destruction of the caterpillar. They must be tracked down in the early stages and squished before you see this:

 



The above picture was a Brussels Sprouts plant I grew a few years ago. Although the caterpillars decimated the leaves, I still had a nice little crop but they cannot have benefited from the lack of leaf surface.


The caterpillar starts its life as a beautiful patch of tiny sunny yellow eggs on the underside of your brassica leaves:




This is the optimum time to crush them as the patches are small enough to press with one finger. You will undoubtedly miss a few, or a few eggs will fall to safety on the lower leaves when you touch them.  Soon enough you might see gatherings of tiny grubs on your leaves:




Keep checking the underside of the leaves because newly hatched, well camouflaged, threadlike caterpillars will be found there:





The larger grubs are easy to miss so be vigilant:







The smaller insects are easy to crush with your fingers but for the larger ones, I find it easier to stomach if you place them on a brick and crush with the back of a trowel. I have a concrete block that I affectionately call my "Killing Stone". All manner of pests have said their dying words upon this stone cold death bed. I still do not enjoy doing it.

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