Expect the Unexpected

A while ago I noticed some chomping action on our horseradish plant and upon investigation found a cabbage white caterpillar feeding on the leaves. I transferred the little dude to some other mustards (same family of plants so the caterpillar can still eat) growing on the property and thought that was that.

This past weekend Steve noticed a female cabbage white hanging round the horseradish for long periods of time so I went to investigate. She flitted around quite a bit so I had a hard time capturing her in a photo, but here's a distance shot. (Natural history factoid: Female cabbage whites have two black spots on the upper wing, while males have one.)

Upon close inspection of the horseradish leaves I found probably a hundred of these:


Do you see what I am talking about? Those little white protrusions are butterfly eggs! Looks like we will have a nice healthy population of cabbage white caterpillars. :)