Large White, Pieris brassicae

Towards the end of last summer I was pleased to find some Large White, Pieris brassicae, caterpillars on some Nasturtiums in our garden. It had been quite a wet year and I had been a little worried because I hadn’t seen any caterpillars up until then. I kept an eye on them and towards the end of September they were still slowly growing.

On 25th September I was concerned to see that it had been frosty and there was actually ice on the leaves next to the caterpillars. I wasn’t sure if they would be able to survive such temperatures, so I put six caterpillars into a mesh cage under the shelter of an overhang in our roof.

Within a few days they had formed chrysalises on the side of the cage where they spent the winter.

This spring I kept an eye on them and between the 2nd and 9th May they all emerged. What I found interesting was that they were all males. 

I also noticed that all of the Large Whites I spotted flying here were males and it wasn’t until the 7th June that I spotted my first female.

However, I needn’t have worried, because this year the Nasturtiums are covered in Large White eggs and caterpillars and I don’t think I have ever seen so many Large Whites flying here!