Thursday 20 August 2009

eggs in a cluster yellow as a duster

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Big white butterflies flop around the garden, looking for places to lay their eggs.

The large white butterfly is the enemy of the vegetable gardener.

These beautiful yellow eggs are hidden on the underside of leaves..

and then hatch into microscopic munching monsters that will destroy young cabbage, broccoli or Brussels plants.

Although they are a wonder of nature, they have to be squidged.

4 comments:

Any Question Answered said...

nasty nasty white butterflies have been very busy this year in my field!

Jayne said...

I don't have as many brassicas so it's not too bad for me, but I have been following the cabbage whites around as they mate and lay eggs and squidging the eggs before they hatch.

Those that do hatch into caterpillars, I pick them off and put them on my sacrificial nasturtiums. I'm sorry I cannot squash them myself, plus I do love the white adults flittering around.

We get a lot of moths and other flying insects too, which are feasted on by bat after the sun has gone down. Lovely!

Jayne

Rob said...

Jayne, It is a pity, that something so pretty causes so much damage.
They have to be squidged! Rob

Will said...

We have a similar problem with little white eggs on the backs of spinach, beet, and some brassica leaves. The nasty thing is that they are leaf miners. The eggs hatch and the maggots burrow between the top and bottom membrane of the leaf. We have to grow spinach and beets under row covers.