Cabbage butterfly
Pieris brassicae
Habitat
The Cabbage butterfly is found throughout the Netherlands. This butterfly species inhabits forest edges, hedgerows, roughs, gardens, vegetable gardens, parks and flowery grasslands. In the Netherlands, the Cabbage butterfly flies in 2 to 3 generations. The first generation can be seen from early May to mid-June. The second generation can be spotted from early July to early September. When a third generation arrives, they fly out in September and October. The offspring of the second and third generations will overwinter in the pupa.
Appearance
Life cycle
The Cabbage butterfly remains in the egg for 4 to 7 days. When the Cabbage butterfly hatches from the egg, this butterfly species is still a caterpillar. The caterpillar lives for 13 to 24 days, after which the caterpillar pupates. The pupation of the first generation takes 8 to 16 days. The second generation remains in the pupa for 160 to 330 days. The first generation lives for 13 to 26 days as a butterfly. The second generation lives for 280 to 360 days as a butterfly.
Host plants and nectar plants
Host plants are special plants on which butterflies, such as the Cabbage butterfly, lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat from those plants. In this way, the caterpillars grow until they are large and strong enough to change into butterflies. This is why host plants are essential for the survival of butterfly species, because without host plants there are no caterpillars and therefore ultimately no butterflies.
Each butterfly species has its own favourite plants. The Cabbage butterfly feeds on Honesty (Lunaria annua), Dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis), Rape (Brassica napus), Garden nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), Wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea), Searockets (Cakile), Wall-rocket (Diplotaxis) and Yellowcresses (Rorippa) as host plants.
Most butterfly species, such as the Cabbage butterfly, need nectar to survive. Butterflies get nectar from nectar plants. Nectar is a viscous fluid that comes from flowers. This fluid contains a lot of sugar, small amounts of proteins and vitamins. Nectar provides the energy that the Cabbage butterfly needs to be able to fly.
The Cabbage butterfly feeds on various nectar plants, such as Buddleja (Buddleja), Lavender (Lavandula), Purpletop vervain (Verbena bonariensis), Red clover (Trifolium pratense), Plumeless thistles (Carduus) and Alfalfa (Medicago sativa).
To help the Cabbage butterfly in nature, you can plant (some of) these plant species in your garden. Preferably, you plant both host and nectar plants so that you help the caterpillar and the butterfly.
Caution with some plant species
Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) is edible, but the stems are tough. The seeds are only poisonous if ingested in excess.
