Summary
LARGE WHITE BUTTERFLY LIFECYCLE Clouds of white butterflies mixing together above the cabbage patch, rising and falling in delicate dance like bubbles of fizz in a glass of lemonade, used to be a far more common sight in our towns and gardens before the widespread use of insecticides put paid to vast numbers of these infuriating but beautiful insects. In the vicinity of suitable food- plants where chemicals are shunned, the wildlife-friendly grower may be treated to the spectacle of a gathered knot or three of these charming customers, bobbing and weaving as they pass across his or her little piece of Heaven, doing what they've always done, lending a delicious "scene from yester-year" taste to the garden landscape. They're amazing creatures. Large white adults are on the wing from April or May and, having survived the winter as a pupa tucked away somewhere sheltered and safe, they mate. She lays batches of yellow eggs on the underside of brassica leaves. In two weeks a mass of tiny caterpillars emerge with only one thing on their minds - to eat! This they do, non-stop, through June, growing quite large and distinctive. When ready, the satiated caterpillars sneak away to hole-up in a handy crevice or woody cabbage stalk, to pupate. Forming a chrysalis to protect themselves during this most incredible transformation, they completely re-arrange their bodies both inside and out, and emerge in July as the familiar cabbage white to wreak more havoc on the veg plot. The second generation of youngsters may prove more damaging than the first, and this lot generally over-winter as a chrysalis to commence the process again when early summer next comes around.
Natural predators of the large white include starlings, which scoff lots of these pests as caterpillars, and wasps who snatch them as food for their grubs. Spiders also do a fine job of snaring the adults, paralysing them, and then sucking their bodily juices dry.See the full content of this document
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Dirty Nails
BEETROOT RED The vibrant beetroot-red stain that is so char...
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