This is how you get rid of the caterpillars

the essentials in brief

• The cabbage white butterfly lays its eggs on cabbage plants and other cruciferous plants. Even Nasturtiums is at risk.
• The caterpillars eat both the leaves and the actual plants bare and cause great damage.
• Targeted prevention is most effective, for example through plant protection nets and regular collection of eggs and caterpillars.
• Even strongly fragrant plants, placed in mixed culture between endangered plants, keep the butterfly from laying eggs.

Recognize cabbage white butterfly

"The" cabbage white butterfly does not exist, because it is a matter of two different species from the white family (lat. Pieridae). The great cabbage white butterfly (lat. Pieris brassicae) has a whitish-yellow color and typically lays its eggs in clutches of up to 200 pieces. The yellow-green and black-spotted caterpillars can be up to five centimeters long. The little cabbage white butterfly (lat. Pieris rapae) is not necessarily smaller than its "large" relative, but can be distinguished from them by some other characteristics. This species lays its eggs one at a time, and the light green caterpillars remain a bit smaller with a length of up to 3.5 centimeters.

In this article you will learn how to recognize and differentiate between the two species of cabbage white butterfly. We also provide you with information on the life of butterflies, because knowledge of this and the resulting prevention is the best protection for your cabbage family. You should be active at the latest when you see the first moths buzzing through the garden in spring - afterwards it doesn't take long until it is teeming with voracious caterpillars and the first damage is visible will.

Small or large cabbage white butterfly? similarities and differences

The small cabbage white butterfly is slightly more common than the large cabbage white butterfly

The differences between the large and the small cabbage white butterfly are not particularly great, especially as they are occupy the same host plants, cause the same damage and also control them in the same way will. The small cabbage white butterfly is just a little more common because it is less specialized and therefore has a wider range of food crops at its disposal. The following overview shows you how you can differentiate between the two species of cabbage white butterfly.

Life cycle

Depending on the weather, the first cabbage whites fly as early as March. The first time the cabbage white butterfly lay eggs in April, the species lays a second time in July. If there is enough food and if the weather (warm and dry) is right, the moths lay one or two more clutches. The great cabbage white butterfly usually lays its eggs for the first time between May and June. This species lays larger clutches, but less often.

The caterpillars hatch about three to four weeks after they lay eggs and begin to eat immediately. While the caterpillars of the large cabbage white butterfly mainly eat the leaves, those of the small cabbage white butterfly also gnaw their way inside, the so-called heart, of the cabbage family. The little animals leave numerous traces of excrement behind, which cause the plants to rot and thus make them inedible. After another four weeks, the caterpillars pupate and then hatch as butterflies. The greatest damage is usually done in the months of June and July.

Damage image

The eggs and caterpillars of the two species of cabbage white butterfly are quite easy to spot, especially the former either individually (small cabbage white butterfly) or in larger clutches (large cabbage white butterfly) on the underside of the Leaves. Immediately after hatching, the caterpillars start eating, mainly devouring the leaves:

• The leaves are corroded
• only the leaf skeleton remains
• the actual cabbage is also eaten
• the caterpillars of the small cabbage white butterfly eat their way inside
• Caterpillars and eggs are clearly visible on the plants
• numerous greenish traces of excrement

Cabbage white caterpillars are very voracious and can destroy the entire cabbage harvest within a very short time.

Digression

These pests also occur on cabbage

How to prevent the cabbage white butterfly

Protective nets keep the butterfly from laying its eggs on the plant

You have the greatest chance of preventing damage from caterpillars on cabbage plants and other cruciferous plants through targeted prevention. Above all, this includes the following measures:

• From April onwards, regularly check endangered plants for egg clutches and caterpillars
• Remove eggs, collect caterpillars
• Destroy caterpillars or release them in a more suitable place
• Cover endangered plants with plant protection nets
• (alternatively) place tomato plants and other strongly fragrant plants between cabbage
• suitable are e.g. B. many herbs such as thyme, peppermint, sage, anise or mugwort
• very good, for example, as a bed border
• Plant beds with mixed crops at all

Keep your garden in good condition, especially between April and July eye and check cabbage family harder if you notice white butterflies. Above all, search the undersides of the leaves for clutches and caterpillars and remove both.

Plant protection nets

Before the first cabbage whites fly, you should cover the beds with the cabbage family (and of course with other endangered plants) with so-called culture protection nets. These offer inexpensive and effective protection not only against cabbage whites, but also against numerous other garden pests. The nets remain on the beds during the entire cultivation period, but you always have to make sure that there is enough space under the cover - cabbage plants in particular grow quite tall.

The most important tips for the successful use of culture protection nets:

• Use nets that are as fine-meshed as possible - a maximum of two millimeters in diameter
• Use intact nets, must not have any holes
• directly after planting or sowing tighten
• d. H. as early as April if possible
• Avoid loopholes, therefore dig the edges of the net into the ground
• and weight it down with stones

Unfortunately, many a resourceful cabbage white butterfly sometimes still finds a loophole, no matter how well hidden it is. For this reason, you should also check covered plants regularly and collect them if necessary.

Mixed culture and crop rotation

One of the best ways to not necessarily keep cabbage whites away, but to keep the damage as small as possible, is with mixed cultures. This means that you plant various vegetables and herbs in one bed instead of an entire area full of cabbage and other cruciferous plants. In connection with cabbage, particularly strong-smelling plants such as

• tomatoes
• celery
• Onions
• Leeks
• Tagetes
• thyme
• sage
• rosemary
• basil
• coriander
• or mugwort

for a socialization. Cabbage white butterflies can (hopefully) be confused by the different scent and cannot find the cabbage plants in between. Also privet, elder or tansy are very good for defense purposes.

Concerning Crop rotation It is important to note that cruciferous plants are not grown on the same bed every year. Instead, you should change the areas and only return to this bed with cabbage and Co. after four years. Good previous crops for kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. include peas, beans, sweetcorn, and celery. The crop rotation is important in order to contain the population of cabbage white butterflies as far as possible in the coming year - the pupae like to overwinter near former cabbage plantations.

How effective a mixed crop with tomatoes can be or sometimes not, this video shows.

Outsmart cabbage whites

Cabbage white butterflies can allegedly be prevented from laying their eggs on the Laying down cabbage plants: Simply place larger, white ones between and on top of the endangered plants Eggshells. The female cabbage white butterfly looking for a suitable laying place now thinks that other conspecifics would lay their eggs at this point and therefore looks for another place. Whether this method works or not, you can try it out. However, you would probably have to refill the eggshells regularly, as the moths will eventually fly into autumn and then also lay eggs.

Mulching against the cabbage white butterfly

Some gardeners claim that cabbage whites can be deterred from laying eggs with strongly smelling or toxic mulch materials. You can use fresh tomato shoots for this, which you simply place between the cabbage plants or hedge trimmings from privet hedges. This should especially help against the second generation of the butterfly, which flies around mid-July. At this point, the hedge must also be cut. Simply place the hedge cut as a Mulch(€ 239.00 at Amazon *) between the endangered cabbage plants and let it rot there.

Effectively control cabbage white butterfly

It is most effective to collect the cabbage white butterfly

Sometimes, however, all precautionary measures do not help and you have to fight the caterpillars that are present. It is important to collect the animals as soon as they are discovered and otherwise take suitable countermeasures. If you wait, the butterfly population and with it the number of voracious caterpillars will quickly increase. Cabbage white butterflies go through about two to four generations in one growing season and therefore reproduce very quickly. This must be prevented.

Are There Effective Home Remedies?

Aside from the options already outlined, there are no really effective home remedies for controlling the cabbage white butterfly. Only a manure made from tansy or wormwood, used as a spray, shows a certain effect. However, these agents are also more likely to be preventive, as eggs or caterpillars that are already present are neither killed nor expelled. Therefore, spray the fermented broths as early as spring if possible and repeat the application at regular intervals until July.

Biological control methods

It is much more effective, however, to rely on natural predators. However, typical beneficial insects such as songbirds and shrews are not particularly fond of cabbage white caterpillars - they just don't taste good. Instead, you should Parasitic wasps(€ 69.90 at Amazon *) of the species Cotesia glomerata or Trichogramma brassicae, which are often used in organic farming. These species parasitize various caterpillars, including the cabbage white butterfly. That means that Parasitic wasps lay their eggs on the caterpillars. After the larvae hatch, the caterpillars serve them as food.

Various ground beetles and predatory beetles also like to eat caterpillars, which is why you should set up suitable hiding places in the garden for them. These feel good under ground cover plants as well as in piles of dead wood, leaves and stones. A cleverly positioned one Insect hotel(€ 11.33 at Amazon *) as well as numerous umbelliferous plants attract other useful insects, which not only keep the cabbage whites, but also other pests in check.

Digression

Is the cabbage white butterfly poisonous?

Hands off: chemical pesticides

Although some chemical agents that are effective against cabbage whites are approved for the home garden, none of them can be recommended with a clear conscience. Many of them not only fight pests, but also important beneficial insects - this applies above all to the insecticides that contain the active ingredient azadirachtin obtained from the neem tree. Others are based on the action of cyhalotrin, which in turn also kills bees.

With the use of such a remedy, you may fight the cabbage whites and their caterpillars, but worry at the same time also for the death of the useful insects and thus bring the biological balance mixed up. As a result, there are no beneficial insects - which in turn gives other pests the chance to spread. If you use a chemical to counter it again, a toxic vicious circle is created. Therefore: It is better to rely on targeted prevention and effective (non-toxic) biological methods.

frequently asked Questions

Are there any other small white butterflies besides the cabbage white butterfly?

The karst white butterfly looks very similar to the cabbage white butterfly

In addition to the large and the small cabbage white butterfly, there are other white species in Germany, some of which also look very similar and can therefore easily be confused with one another. This is especially true for the very small karst white butterfly with a wingspan of between 40 and 46 millimeters (lat. Pieris mannii), which is primarily native to southern Europe to southwest Germany.

A close relative is also the green vein white or rapeseed white (lat. Pieris napi), which is somewhat larger with a wingspan of around 50 millimeters and mainly feeds on rapeseed plants. What is less well known is that species such as the conspicuous aurora butterfly (lat. Anthocharis cardamines), the rare postillon (lat. Colias croceus) and the more common brimstone butterfly (lat. Gonepteryx rhamni) to the family of whites (lat. Pieridae) belong.

How old does a cabbage white butterfly get?

Cabbage white butterflies only live briefly: the caterpillar stage lasts about four weeks, after which the animals pupate. The last generation of a year even hibernates as a pupa and only hatches out of the cocoon as a finished butterfly in the following spring. The adult moths then have a life expectancy of around two months.

How do cabbage whites overwinter?

Adult cabbage whites do not hibernate at all, but rather die in autumn at the latest. Only the last generation of caterpillars, which can be found in late summer or Autumn pupates, survives the cold season as a pupa and only hatches out of the cocoon in the following spring. These young moths finally establish the new generations and begin very early in the year - from April or April. May - with the egg-laying. The wintering places are often in sheltered places one to three meters above the ground, with fences and walls being particularly popular.

Is the cabbage white butterfly poisonous to humans too?

In fact, both caterpillars and adult moths are not particularly popular with birds. Since the animals feed on cabbage waxes and therefore store large amounts of mustard oils in their bodies, they are simply not tasty for birds and other potential predators. For us humans, on the other hand, neither caterpillars nor moths are poisonous in any way, after all, we like and tolerate cabbage plants and their hot mustard oils as well.