Large White

• It is one of the world's major agricultural pests of cabbage and other brassicas.
• Its caterpillars build up toxic compounds from the plants they eat as a defence.
• It can cause yield losses of as much as 92% in cabbage crops.
• Its caterpillars are yellow and black and live in groups, an aposematic warning: they accumulate glucosinolates from cabbage that make them distasteful to birds.
• The plant defends itself chemically, and it responds: when bitten, the cabbage releases volatiles that attract the parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata, which lays its eggs inside the caterpillars. It is a classic example of indirect plant defence.
• And there is a third level: a second, hyperparasitoid wasp locates the parasitised caterpillars by the smell they give off, and in turn parasitises the Cotesia larvae.
• It is migratory: individuals from southern Europe move north in spring and their descendants return in autumn.
• It is one of the oldest and best-known horticultural pests in Europe, and at the same time one of the most widely used model systems in chemical ecology.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat & environment

Open fields, gardens, allotments and farmland of Europe, North Africa and Asia

Birth weight

A yellow skittle-shaped egg, ~1.5 mm tall

Size at birth

A larva up to 25-45 mm long once mature

Sexual maturity

Reached after complete metamorphosis (no fixed age applies)

Gestation / incubation

Egg: ~1 week | Larva: 3-4 weeks | Pupa: 1-2 weeks

Litter / clutch size

20 to 100 eggs laid in clusters on the undersides of leaves

Sources consulted: Biology Insights; AHDB; International Journal of Current Microbiology (biology study); UK Butterflies; Wildlife Insight; Buy-Butterflies.com; Animal Spot; PMC (Arabidopsis egg-laying study)