In the spring, as soon as the sun begins to heat the earth, trees, grasses are literally filled with insects. There are wasps, and ladybugs, and beetles, and bumblebees. Among them, there is often a cabbage butterfly - a butterfly that is common on our continent, although, according to experts, it can also be seen in northern Africa.
Its habitats are almost all fields and meadows. Cabbage can often be found in large cities and in small towns, as well as in fields, gardens and other agricultural land. Some of the butterflies were caught in the mountains of Altai, at an altitude of more than two thousand meters.
The description of the cabbage butterfly is quite simple: it is large, white, with dark, conspicuous spots on the tops of the wings. It belongs to the class of whites and in appearance it is very similar to the repository, only a little bigger and whiter.
The butterfly cabbage got its name because of the great love for cabbage. Therefore, gardeners and agronomists are struggling with it, spraying areas with a large number of pesticides. Its caterpillars, having a black and yellow color, live on cabbage in large clusters and greatly damage the crop.
The cabbage butterfly begins its years in April, and until the beginning of October it can still be seen occasionally. She has a quick, jagged flight. The dimensions of this, as it is also called, cabbage whites - a little more than three centimeters. When the cabbage cat lands on a plant, it folds its wings behind its back. The back of her wings is yellowish-green, resembling the color of leaves, and this similarity helps her to remain invisible. Males do not have black specks typical for females, but the color of the wings below is yellowish in both sexes.
Cabbage butterfly produces from one to three generations per year. There was a time when it was not so common, but since people began to cultivate cabbage widely, favorable times have come for the caterpillars of the whitewash. A lover of all cultivated cruciferous plants, the cabbage butterfly lays its eggs even on weeds. At one time, the female can lay up to six hundred eggs, but the average figure is two hundred - three hundred pieces.
The eggs of the cabbage are painted yellow, have a conical shape with fourteen ribs. They can often be found on the underside of green leaves of cabbage or other cultivated plants - up to forty pieces on each clutch.
Adult caterpillar butterfly caterpillars have a greenish-blue color, with different-sized black spots and yellow stripes located along the back and sides. They live for three to four weeks, a maximum of a month, having managed to shed several times during this time period.
The favorite food for cabbage caterpillars, in addition to all varieties of cabbage, is radish, horseradish, rape, radish, and turnip. Some gardeners claim that these insects do not disdain nasturtium, reseda, capers, and even garlic and onions.
After birth, the cabbage caterpillars stick together, gnawing only the middle of the leaves, and only a little mature, they begin to eat the edges. As a result, only a vein can remain from cabbage leaves.
The sufficiently bright color of the caterpillar butterfly-cabbage caterpillars is a warning that they are poisonous. Having tasted them once, the birds no longer encroach on them. During its last molt, and this may be the month of October, the caterpillar begins to turn into a chrysalis. The shape and color of the pupae of this butterfly is as diverse as its caterpillars: yellowish-greenish or whitish-yellow with orange and black dots.
Pupation, as a rule, is carried out in the most secluded places: on fences, under the eaves of buildings, and in the natural biotope, tall grass stalks and tree trunks are “belted” by pupae . Sometimes they can be seen lying freely on the soil cover, in a turfy litter or among fallen leaves.