THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.
(Pontia, or Pieris Brassicæ.)
When the colewort and cauliflower are nearly mature, the perfect insect of this Caterpillar is found depositing her eggs upon the leaves. The heat of the sun soon vivifies them and brings forth the Caterpillars, which immediately proceed to consume the vegetables on which they received being. They bear the heat of the sun without inconvenience, but cannot endure long rains, and in wet weather they soon disappear. There are several species of this Butterfly, but the common white, with a black spot on each of the under wings, is the earliest seen in our gardens. It lays its eggs in May; and its Caterpillars, which are soon hatched, feed together till the end of June, when they go into the pupa state, from which the perfect Butterfly appears in July. The eggs laid by the second brood of Butterflies produce Caterpillars which feed during the remainder of the summer, and remain in the pupa state all the winter, to be hatched the following spring.
From the astonishing fecundity of these insects, it may be wondered that they do not, in the course of time, completely overspread the face of the earth, and totally consume every green plant. This would certainly be the case if Providence had not provided a check to their progress. One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs within the caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there hatched. In their larva state they continue preying on the vitals of the animal; they then pass to the pupa condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemptible little parasite, for keeping down the increase of an insect which would otherwise become a serious and alarming evil.
THE MAGPIE, OR CURRANT MOTH.
(Geometra, or Abraxas grossulariata.)