If you’ve ever grown cabbages, kale, or other leafy greens in your garden and noticed leaves riddled with holes, there’s a good chance cabbage white butterflies are to blame.
While they may look harmless fluttering around in summer, these pests can do serious damage to brassica crops. Understanding their life cycle and how to break it is the key to stopping them. One of the simplest and most effective defences? Soft butterfly netting.
Meet the Cabbage White Butterfly
The cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae and Pieris brassicae) is one of the most common garden pests in the UK. There are actually two types often seen in gardens: Small white (Pieris rapae) and Large white (Pieris brassicae). Both species are particularly drawn to brassicas the plant family that includes cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and sprouts.
Life Cycle of the Cabbage White Butterfly
Understanding the life cycle of this pest helps explain how quickly infestations can take hold:
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Egg Stage – In spring and summer, adult females lay tiny yellow eggs on the underside of brassica leaves. The large white lays eggs in clusters, while the small white lays single eggs.
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Larvae (Caterpillar) Stage – After about a week, the eggs hatch into caterpillars. These are the true culprits behind the damage — they feed ravenously on leaves, often leaving only the leaf veins behind. The larvae stage lasts around 2–3 weeks.
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Pupa (Chrysalis) Stage – Once mature, caterpillars pupate (form chrysalises) on nearby structures, fences, or plant stems. They remain in this stage for around 1–2 weeks in summer, though late-season pupae may overwinter.
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Adult Butterfly Stage – The cycle begins again as adult butterflies emerge, often producing 2 to 3 generations per year — meaning infestations can quickly escalate during warm months.
How to Stop Them: Use Soft Butterfly Netting
One of the most effective ways to break this cycle and protect your crops is by using soft butterfly netting. Designed to keep butterflies and birds out, it creates a safe environment for your plants to grow without interference. You must check your plants are pest free before covering. Cover as soon as you plant out.
This netting can be laid directly over the crops or used on garden cages or over hoops.
What is Butterfly Netting
- Hole size of 5mm x 7mm small enough to block butterflies while allowing light and rain to pass through
- Made from strong, UV-stabilised HDPE long-lasting and weather-resistant
- Available in green or black
Garden Netting to Stop Cabbage White Butterflies
Soft butterfly netting is lightweight yet strong, making it easy to use in various ways: drape directly over crops, secure with garden hoops, frames, or canes, use with walk-in or low-height fruit and vegetable cages, or cover garden ponds to prevent debris build-up and deter herons.
Pollination and Garden Netting
Due to the small mesh size, bees cannot pass through the netting. If you're growing flowering crops that need pollination, remember to remove the netting during the flowering period.