Monday, 17 August 2015

Larva help

I remember Dave posting a while back about finding a larva in some vegetables and have been a bit more careful since then. I've just found one in some broccoli, from the Netherlands, which I think is a Green-veined White. Length is 14/15mm.

It's now in a big plastic pot with some tissue paper and some of the broccoli to feed on but, never having reared anything through before, I'm not sure where to go from here.

Also, is there any particular way of submitting this type of record?

Thanks,
Nigel


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2 comments:

  1. Dave Wilton18 August 2015 at 12:25

    Hello Nigel, yes that does appear to be a caterpillar of Green-veined White Pieris napi, one of those aberrant day-flying moths which some people call butterflies! It is supposed to be easy to rear. Probably best now to stick to what you found it on but in the wild in this country it is supposed to feed on things like lady's smock, garlic mustard and watercress. Clean it out regularly and make sure it gets plenty of air (if rearing in a plastic pot I use net curtain material over the top, secured with an elastic band, not the pot lid).

    So far as the record is concerned, if using MapMate I would normally record it as a larva for the date it was found and in the comments column mention very briefly what is known of its provenance. If successfully reared, the adult emergence date can be added to the comments field later on.

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  2. Nigel18 August 2015 at 12:47

    Thanks Dave. I'll keep it on the broccoli and see how it goes.

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