White Caterpillar
The Cabbage White Caterpillar
There are a few types of white caterpillar, though the mysterious fluffy one often found on common garden vegetation is thought to be the larvae of a small moth. They enjoy nice juicy zucchini leaves and the tender, immature foliage of potato and pea plants. They aren’t prone to doing wide spread damage to your garden, but you can gently displace them if you wish them gone. Any wild flower or the sapling of a wild fruit tree should suffice. Though most caterpillars are intentionally hatched in the area which is considered by the adult to give the best nutritional outlook, he may stand a chance at surviving elsewhere. He may just as soon become snake or bird food as well, but his job in the food chain will be done either way.
The cabbage white caterpillar is actually a light green color, and not at all similar to the large green glob bugs that you may see on your tomato plants during the early and late summer months. Unlike most species of butterflies, the cabbage white caterpillar stage will over winter within his chrysalis. This gives him a nice long season for feeding on your prized vegetables, and a good long metamorphosis stage for prime redistribution the following spring. These little buggers don’t only eat cabbage leaves, but are also partial to radishes, peppergrass, mustard, and many other related vegetation. If it has a kick it’s fair game. The cabbage white caterpillar is considered an insatiable pest throughout the western United States, and efforts toward his control are in full force.
If you have happened upon a white caterpillar and you aren’t sure what it is, you most likely have discovered a moth larvae. The white butterflies that you may see in and around your garden usually start out as darker caterpillars and chrysalises, so you may not have noticed the actual larval stage at all. Should you be lucky enough to stumble upon a monarch caterpillar, you may want to keep a close eye on his development. If you have a naturally occurring cluster of wild milkweed, you may want to check closely for signs of the black, white, and yellow banded larvae. These little caterpillars will eat non stop for about two weeks before dangling from their heads and shedding their skins.
Beneath the skin of this black, yellow, and white caterpillar, a chrysalis is forming. This shell will protect and shelter the pupae as it forms in an adult monarch butterfly. This process will also take about two weeks, and as the time draws nearer, the chrysalis turns from opaque green to clear. You can see the butterfly moving within, but you mustn’t disturb the cocoon before he breaks it open himself. An early hatch will leave him deformed and weak, and he may never take to flight at all.