The cabbage moth is a Eurasian night-flying moth whose caterpillars chew on cabbage and many other vegetables. It is not known to live in the United States, so don't confuse it with the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni), a different moth that does. A relative in the same genus, the bertha armyworm, lives in western North America.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A medium-sized moth with a wingspan of about 1.3–2 in (34–50 mm). The forewings are gray-brown to blackish with a white-edged, kidney-shaped spot; the hindwings are paler.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Farm fields
- Vegetable gardens
- Range
- Found across Europe and Asia, roughly from 30°N to 70°N, including Japan and Korea. It has not been reported from the United States or Canada, though it could reach new regions with imported live plants.
Behavior
- Diet
- The caterpillars eat a very wide range of plants: cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, plus tomato, potato, onion, beet, spinach, sunflower, tobacco, and even apple.
- Overwintering
- It spends the winter as a pupa in a cocoon in the soil.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- A female can lay around 2,500 eggs, sometimes putting more than 350 on the underside of a single leaf.
- Larva
- Caterpillars grow to about 1.6–2 in (40–50 mm). Young ones are light green; older ones range from green to brown or nearly black, with a darker back and pale side stripes.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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