These little bugs have quite the appetite. I found this little guy in my cabbage of course. You definitely want to avoid these as they will munch right through anything cabbage related. You should look out for the mama- she is a little white butterfly. She seems so nice and innocent floating around near the cabbage but don't let her looks fool ya. She floats around looking for a place to lay her eggs. She lays eggs on the underside of cabbage related leaves. Soon enough you will start seeing little holes all through out the cabbage leaves which lets you know that the egg has indeed hatched and is now a crunching munching hungry caterpillar!
Holes eaten through collard leaf
Holes eaten through collard leaf
As you can see from the picture to the left this little guy can eat quite a bit for something so small. I try to only use natural pest treatments. I've read about using flour mixed with cayenne pepper. The cayenne keeps pests away and the flour on your leaves helps make it easy to spot the little guys. They blend in very well. A lot of times they will hide out on the vein of a leaf (as evidenced by the location of holes in the leaf) which disguises them. You want to get rid of these as soon as possible or you won't have much of a harvest.
I was able to get a picture of the mama flying around my cabbage trying to lay eggs.
I spy with my little eye....
Can you see the little guy laying along the vein to blend in?
Can you see the little guy laying along the vein to blend in?