Whose the daddy?

cora09

These little so & so's were making my brocolli their lunch. I'm after picking about 15 or 20 of them from my plants and I think/hope I have them all (luckly i only have about 10 brocolli plants in my little patch so it only took 5mins to have a good root through them all.)

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m498/Coraor/DSCF2902.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m498/Coraor/DSCF2901.jpg
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m498/Coraor/DSCF2886.jpg

They look like the same caterpillars that I used to see on hog weed a few years ago when i was a kid.. they'd make big webby nests around the dried flower heads and they'd be in massive groups together..

Are they moths or butterflies?.. if they're moths the birds can have them, yeugh!! *shudder* if not .. and they're pretty butterflies I might look after them for the winter (for which I will need tips - perhaps the last few hard winters have done damage to them) cos I've not seen many butterflies this year and who doesn't like seeing a butterfly flutter across the lawn?

Also is it just me or is it not a bit late in the year for caterpillars... especially ones this tiny? these and hairy molly's are the only caterpillars I've seen.. no fat green ones or anything and I've started gardening this year so I assume I would have seen plenty this year of all years?

Mothman

These are Large White Butterflies, aka Cabbage White.

They are 2nd brood. They don't take long to feed up and will be pupated long before winter arrives.

While, I'm at it, many moths are every bit as beautiful as our butterflies and are deserving of your admiration

Finally, the birds don't like these caterpillars, hence why they are obvious and boldly coloured

cora09

Ya i noticed they were spittin green guck at me...

sorry mothman I can't stand moths i don't know why but my whole body reacts irratically when I see one, heart in mouth, shakey hands, adrenaline rush everything aside from bodily fluid evacuation and fainting LOL..especially when one of them comes in the room and starts circling the light.. I leave the room via the floor *screaming* and nev has to come to the rescue... I'm shouting at him to kill it but he catches it (by a wing while it seizures between his fingers with its other wings) and puts it out the window..

I'm ok with them little sandy coloured ones they're only dust that were given life but the big guys, you know the ones that tap/knock on the window... with the fat bodies full of bleugh... and all that fresh grave muddy brown... and the mane.. and the eyes that glisten red when they catch the light... oh god thinkin of em i'm gettin the gawks i can feel it in my throat...
I know they're basically brown butterflies but nope i just cannot stand them but hey i'm not as bad as my grandmother who is the opposite to me - dreads butterflies.. moths.. not even a flinch.
Anyway change the subject how could i raise those lovely cabbage whites then? or would they fare better w/o my assistance and plamausing?

looksee

Cora. You are asking on a gardening forum how to raise Cabbage Whites!!! They are more than able to do this by themselves, this is evidenced by the number of shredded and gunked up brassicas they leave in their wake.

Anyway Cabbage Whites are no more pretty butterflies than Crows are pretty birds. (That is not a scientific observation btw, and I am aware of its non-pc-ness )

Mothman

And I quite happily squash the egg batches of the Large Whites!
I did move some caterpillars to nasturtiums.

As looksee mentions, they don't need help

cora09

haha i see the dilemma but regardless of their pest status i still think they're pretty... I'll set them free anyways but a few caterpillar miles away from my brocolli ...
Besides they poo way too much and i've already got a tot to do all the pooing I can deal with right now.They've more than doubled in size over night... I only have a coffee jar to keep them in so room will be in short supply too quickly(I was gonna get them one of them pop up laundry baskets in Penneys but seen as I'd only be drawing a nuasance on myself with these ones I'l let them fend for themselves)... oh why could i not have found nicer more garden friendly butterflies