Cabbage Butterfly (Indian Population)
Pieris brassicae
📖 Description
Cabbage Butterfly (also called Large Cabbage White) is a major pest of Brassica vegetables across the Indian subcontinent, particularly in cool-season Rabi vegetable cultivation in northern India, hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Nilgiris. Adults are large white butterflies often seen fluttering over cabbage and cauliflower fields. Female butterflies lay conspicuous yellow egg masses (50-100 eggs each) on the underside of leaves. Newly hatched larvae feed gregariously, scraping leaf tissue; older larvae disperse and eat large irregular holes in leaves. Heavy infestation can completely defoliate plants, leaving only midribs. The pest has 3-5 generations per Rabi season, requiring continuous management. Handpicking egg masses and young gregarious larvae is the most effective single control practice for small plots. Biological control with Cotesia glomerata parasitoid (which lays eggs inside cabbage butterfly caterpillars) is also effective.
⚠️ Symptoms to watch for
- Round holes in leaves, skeletonized leaves with only midribs remaining, frass (green droppings) on leaves, defoliation in patches, stunted plants, damaged cabbage heads with reduced market quality, yield loss 30-60%
🩹 Treatment
- Handpick larvae and egg masses, apply Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2g/L in evening, spray neem oil 5ml/L, use recommended insecticides at early larval stage, install yellow sticky traps
🌿 Organic treatments
- Handpick larvae and egg masses from plants (drop into kerosenated water), apply Bacillus thuringiensis @ 2 g/L in evening, spray neem oil 5 ml/L with sticker, apply 5% NSKE, release Cotesia glomerata parasitoid @ 5000/ha, install yellow sticky traps @ 10/ha, apply Helicoverpa NPV, intercrop with tomato or coriander
🧪 Chemical treatments
- Emamectin benzoate 5 SG @ 0.5 g/L, Indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 1 ml/L, Spinosad 45 SC @ 0.5 ml/L, Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.3 ml/L, Lambda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 1 ml/L (rotate modes of action)
🛡️ Prevention
- Inspect crop weekly for egg masses and young larvae, handpick larvae and egg masses, install yellow sticky traps early, intercrop with tomato or coriander to deter oviposition, use net house cultivation to exclude adults, apply Bacillus thuringiensis preventively at egg-laying stage, destroy crop residues after harvest, rotate with non-Brassica crops, conserve Cotesia glomerata parasitoid
🪴 Affected plants
- Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Radish, Mustard, Rapeseed, Other Brassicas
🦋 Natural predators
- Cotesia glomerata, Spiders, Birds, Hoverfly Larvae, Lacewings, Predatory Bugs
🌱 Host plants
- Brassica oleracea (capitata, botrytis, italica), Brassica juncea, Raphanus sativus
🔄 Lifecycle
- Female lays 50-200 eggs in clusters on the underside of leaves.
- Eggs hatch in 4-7 days.
- Larvae feed for 14-25 days, passing through 5 instars.
- Pupation occurs on crop plants, walls, fences, or other sheltered places, lasting 10-20 days (or overwintering).
- Adults live 10-20 days.
- Total life cycle 30-50 days; 3-5 generations per year.
📅 Season
- Active Sep-Apr during cool Rabi season, peaks Nov-Feb
🔎 Appearance
- Large white butterflies with black tips on the forewings and one or two black spots on each forewing (females have two spots, males one).
- Larvae (caterpillars) are velvety green with a yellow stripe along the back and yellow spots along the sides, growing up to 45 mm.
💥 Damage level
- High
🔁 Reproduction rate
- Fast
🗺️ Geographic regions
- Indian Subcontinent
- Europe
- Asia
- North Africa
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