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Consultant, Matthew Bissett (AgriVision), has observed cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) caterpillars in several canola crops around Sea Lake and Woomelang, in the Mallee district of Victoria. The caterpillars are sporadic across paddocks and have caused some chewing damage to seedlings. The extent of damage is not overly concerning and will be monitored over the next few weeks. Agronomic Consultant, Luke Maher (AgriVision), has also observed cabbage white butterfly caterpillars chewing holes in canola around Swan Hill, also in the Mallee.
Cabbage white butterfly caterpillars are up to 30 mm in length and velvety green in colour with a faint yellow stripe running along the back and each side of the body. They are mostly found in spring, and attack canola and other brassica crops by chewing large irregular holes in the leaves. Chemical control at this time of year is unlikely to be warranted. Even when in large numbers, cabbage white butterflies will generally not affect crop yield. If spraying is needed, cabbage white butterflies can be easily controlled with a range of insecticides, including those used to control diamond back moth.
Adult butterflies have creamy white wings with one or two black spots, and a wingspan of approximately 40 mm. Their life cycle is largely dependant on environmental temperatures. Egg laying ceases in winter and increases in spring. Butterflies are usually seen flying in crops on warm sunny days.
What is PestFacts?
PestFacts south-eastern keeps growers and advisers informed about invertebrate pests and beneficials in broadacre crops and pastures during the winter-cropping season in Victoria and southern New South Wales.
PestFacts south-eastern is run through IPMforGrains: Best Practice Insect Pest Management, a project delivered by the National Pest Information Network (cesar, DPIRD, QDAF, NSW DPI, and SARDI). This project aims to provide grain growers and advisors with information on invertebrate grain pest occurrence and equip industry with the knowledge needed to implement integrated pest management practices. This initiative is a GRDC investment and includes in-kind contributions from all project partner organisations.
We need your reports
PestFacts is produced on an ʻas-needsʼ basis and relies upon pest observations and field reports from our subscribers. If you have recently observed invertebrate pests (or beneficial species) in broadacre crops, please contact us to report your observations.
Agricultural invertebrate identification
If you are a grower or agronomist in Victoria or NSW working with broadacre crops or pastures, we can assist you with identifying invertebrates found on farms at no cost. Please contact us for identification help.
PestFacts map
PestFacts map is an interactive tool that allows users to search and view historical pest reports across Victoria and NSW. The map is updated with each issue of PestFacts to include new reports.
How to acknowledge PestFacts?
With appropriate acknowledgement, cesar grants permission to reproduce information taken directly from PestFacts. To cite PestFacts: “PestFacts south-eastern (<<enter date published>>). cesar pty ltd.”
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