Hobbies And Interests
Life Cycle
The eggs of whites and sulphurs are upright, spindle shaped and colored red, orange or pink. The female butterfly lays them on leaves, flowers or buds. The bright colors warn other females away from the plant because many white and sulphur caterpillars are cannibalistic. The caterpillars are long, cylindrical and fuzzy about the body and head. Many of the body segments have rings. Young caterpillars have hairs that secrete irritants that repel ants and other predators. After the larvae has matured, it turns into a chrysalis that might overwinter -- sulphurs and whites can endure light frosts.
Cabbage Butterfly
The cabbage butterfly is a green or pea green caterpillar with faint yellow lines down the middle of its body. It grows to 1.81 inches long and is covered with short, dense hairs. It's found in farmlands, fields, vegetable gardens and other sunny habitats. The caterpillar not only eats broccoli but cabbage, kale, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, radish, turnips and other members of the cabbage family. It's found in May until the first hard frost.
Checkered White
The checkered white is a gray to steel blue caterpillar with long yellow stripes and tiny setae that rise from black spots all over the head and body. It grows to 1.38 inches long and can be found in May and early June, then from July to the first hard frost. Along with broccoli it likes pepper grass. The checkered white is in serious decline in the East. It now can be found in disturbed places such as Jamaica Bay in New York and along the runway at Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
Falcate Orange Tip
The falcate orange tip is one of the earliest butterflies to emerge in spring. The butterfly is white with orange spots at the top of the forewings and a lacy pattern on the hindwings. Its caterpillar has a green ground color but such vivid patterns of yellow striping and blue mottling that the green is hard to see. It grows to about 1.38 inches and in the North is found on exposed hilltops, open woods, rocky outcrops and flood plains. It's found from Nebraska to Illinois to Connecticut, south to Georgia. The caterpillar matures in late spring. Besides broccoli, the falcate orange tip eats bitter cress, rock cress, winter cress and other cruciferous vegetables.