Cabbage Moth

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Cabbage Moth

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Mamestra
Species: M. brassicae
Binomial name
Mamestra brassicae
Linnaeus, 1758

Note: the Small White species of butterfly is commonly called a "cabbage moth" in North America.

The Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae) is a common European moth of the family Noctuidae.

This species varies considerably in size, with a wingspan of 34-50 mm. The forewings are brown and mottled with a prominent white-edged stigma and a broken white subterminal line. The hindwings are grey, darker towards the termen. The prominent spur on the tibia of the foreleg is a diagnostic feature, though is best viewed with a magnifying lens. This moth has a rather complex life history: two or three broods are produced each year and adults can be seen at any time from May to October, occasionally at other times [1]. It flies at night and is attracted to light, sugar and nectar-rich flowers.

The larva is green or brown with dark spots. As the common and scientific names suggest, it can be a pest of cultivated brassicas but it feeds on a wide range of other plants (see list below). Due to its complex life history, this species overwinters either as a larva or a pupa.

  1. ^  The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

[edit] Recorded food plants

Beet greens with holes eaten by cabbage moth larvae
Beet greens with holes eaten by cabbage moth larvae

[edit] References

  • Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
  • Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984