Re: So long cabbage butterflies...for now

**"* O* <t*@earthlink.net>**

I think they all flew out west...plenty of cabbage whites flying around in
my yard.

Tom

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Hamptongar@aol.com>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 6:42 PM
Subject: [GWL] So long cabbage butterflies...for now

> The European Cabbage Butterfly has been a problem for growers  of cole
> crops ever since it became established in the U. S.  For better or  worse
this
> two inch butterfly has become a hallmark of late spring and summer as
they
> lightly flutter through farms, gardens and meadows looking for appropriate
> places to propagate where their developing caterpillars ravage the likes
of
> cabbage and broccoli.  The white and light yellow butterflies, even though
> an economic evil have become an important part of the summer landscape.
> But not this year.  It dawned on me last week that I hadn't seen a single
> cabbage butterfly on my upstate NY property all season.  I then checked on
the
> downstate property and none there either.  I checked on Long Island and
> while a few have been sighted the numbers are minute compared to most
years.
> I then checked with a Cornell entomologist and sure enough he said  I was
> the second person who had brought this to his attention.
>
> The consensus is that the wet and cool spring has provided an  abundance
of
> fungi that infect the caterpillar state of development much like  the
> Entomophaga maimaga infects the gypsy moth caterpillar in certain  years.
I
> suspect, but have no way of knowing that it may be the same  pathogen
that's
> doing in the Cabbage butterfly as experiments have shown that  Entomophaga
can
> affect at least 30 species of butterflies.
>
> Don't think you'll find much on this elsewhere so just  wondering how many
> list readers are noticing the same phenom with the cabbage  butterfly?
>
> I did note that in a recent butterfly count in nearby  Greenwich, Ct. had
> counted 21 cabbage whites in their recent annual census but  there was no
> indication what the counts had been in previous years.
>
>
> Andrew
>
> Andrew Messinger
> The Hampton Gardener
>
> The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade  Mark
> (Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press, The Press and the
> Easthampton Press)
>
>
>
>
>
> **************Can love help you live longer? Find out now.
>
(http://personals.aol.com/articles/2009/02/18/longer-lives-through-relations
hips/?ncid=emlweu
> slove00000001)
> _______________________________________________
> gardenwriters mailing list
> gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters
>
> GWL has searchable archives at:
> http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters
>
> Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
> at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos
>
> Post gardening questions/threads to
> &quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;
>
> For GWL website and Wiki, go to
> http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters