LARGE WHITE
The large white or cabbage white butterfly is a beauty unless you are a vegetable grower. The wingspan is 48 to 70mm and the wings on both sexes are white with black tips on the forewings. The female also has 2 black dots on each forewing. The underside of the wings is a pale greenish colour and is great camouflage when they are at rest. The caterpillars are yellowish in colour and studded with black dots. They are voracious feeders and can decimate plants quickly.
The large white's habitat consists of large open spaces as well as farms and vegetable gardens, because of the availability of its food source. They like to eat most Brassicas including Brussel sprouts, cabbages, kale and cauliflowers as well as oil-seed rape.
A female can mate with several males in a breeding season. 2 generations of butterflies are produced each year. The adults from the second generations breeding hibernate through the Winter.
