Page 626 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Noctuidae
DISTRIBUTION Europe, excluding northern Scandinavia; Libya; Asia Minor;
the Middle East; across southern Asia through Iran, Afghanistan,
and northern India to southeast China; across Russia and Siberia
to Japan and Russian Far East
HABITAT Cultivated land, but also in many other, mainly open habitats
HOST PLANTS Many wild and cultivated species, especially Cabbage (Brassica
oleracea) and other Brassica crops, clematis (Clematis spp.),
Apple (Malus pumila), and plants of Solanaceae, Fabaceae,
and Asteraceae
NOTE Highly polyphagous caterpillar that is notorious for ruining
cabbage crops
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but widespread and common

ADULT WINGSPAN

1⅜–2 in (35–50 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1¾–2 in (45–50 mm)
MAMESTRA BRASSICAE
CABBAGE MOTH
624
(LINNAEUS, 1758)

The Cabbage Moth caterpillar hatches from a brownish egg laid
in large batches of 20 to 100 on the underside of a leaf. It feeds,
mainly at night, usually on the leaves, and hides by day, often,
when large, at ground level around the plant base. The caterpillar
burrows 2–4 in (50–100 mm) into the ground to form its
pupa in a thin cocoon. There are several generations a year,
and the larvae are most abundant in late summer and fall. The
night- ying adults are present from May to October.

The caterpillar is a pest in many countries on a range of
herbaceous crops, but it is most frequent and damaging
on cabbages, burrowing deep into the hearts, rendering

them inedible. Super cially, it resembles other noctuids, and
well-marked brown forms with dark bars along the back,
emboldened near the tail end, are not dissimilar to some members
of the Noctuinae subfamily. Green forms also resemble other
species. However, in both brown and green forms, the build,
large head, obscurely mottled pattern, and lifestyle of the
Cabbage Moth caterpillar help to identify it.

Actual size
The Cabbage Moth caterpillar is stout, with a
large head. It is quite cylindrical, but the tail end
is slightly humped. It is dirty gray brown, green,
or (rarely) blackish above and much paler below
the white, black-ringed spiracles. The whole
surface is nely mottled so that the overall
pattern is generally rather blurred. Some
individuals have pinkish or yellowish rings.