Description
Also known as Cabbage butterfly, or Cabbage white. These insects have a 4 cm (1.5″) wingspan. They often have a black spot on the top of their white wings. You can often see many of them flying around your vegetable garden. The caterpillar is green, fat, and about the same length.
Effects
The caterpillar eats many ragged holes in the leaves of brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, radish and bok choy. If you have an infestation, they can leave your leaves looking like lace.
Control
Prevent the butterfly from laying eggs in the garden. Cover your garden with an insect net in the spring to protect your garden. Once you take the net off in the summer to let in the beneficial insects, keep an eye out for the caterpillars and hand pick them off of the underside of leaves. Plant your garden alternating members of certain families. If brassicas are not beside each other, the cabbage moth will not lay its eggs and will fly away.