Re: Lavender/Cabbage White Butterflies

 root@netservs.com (Steve Harris) wrote in message

Are they all the same butterflies? Not always there are a number of
species of white butterflies but only two are pests of cabbage.

As to will your planting of Lavender increase the damage to your
cabbages.
I suspect the risk is slight. In fact I can think of reasons why there
might be less damage to the cabbages if more eggs were laid.

Not all the damage by caterpillars is caused by butterfly
caterpillars.
When I was a kid my mother used to go over the cabbages and pick off
the caterpillars. If she found an unusual one she would show it to me.
For example she would occasionally find Garden Tiger moth
caterpillars. They aren't a pest and don't usually eat cabbage but
they can. I experimented with them once and I found nothing they would
not eat not even Japanese Knotweed.

On one occasion she brought me a caterpillar she hadn't seen before.
It was a Large White! (one of the two cabbage eaters) I then asked to
see the other caterpillars she found. Most of them were moths.

Go ahead and plant the lavender. It will also attract the good
butterflies to our garden.

--
Neil Jones- Neil@nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.butterflyguy.com/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn
Bog National Nature Reserve

 HelenPerriman@aol.com (Helen) wrote:


My primary interest is ME feeding from my Brassicas!

Planting lavender close to my Brassicas would seem very stupid. Indeed,
I note from a companion planting list that Brassicas are good for
Lavender. The reverse is NOY stated!

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

 neil@nwjones.demon.co.uk (Neil Jones) wrote:


Do go on! :-)

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

 root@netservs.com (Steve Harris) wrote in message

Oh boy, this is complicated larger populations may( I stress may)
attract more predators.
For example cabbage whites are attacked by a parasite called Cotesia
glomerata
(formerly Apanteles glomeratus) this is a tiny tiny wasp whose larvae
eat the caterpillars alive. There are other wasps too and they can
emerge from early stages of the caterpillar killing them while quite
small.
Without digging into journals I don't know what is known about the
interactions here and what "density dependent" (to use jargon) effects
have been observed.

I do know that in two other butterflies The Marsh Fritillary which has
a specific parasite called Cotesia Bignelii and the Holly Blue which
has a parasite called Listrodomus nyctherimus the populations have
been observed to be markedly affected by parasite density.
Only the Holly Blue would be really expected in a garden. The Marsh
Fritillary is a listed protected species not usually found in gardens.
(Having said that it used to come into my old garden 20 years ago but
that is like getting a peregrine falcon on your bird table!)

--
Neil Jones- Neil@nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.butterflyguy.com/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn
Bog National Nature Reserve