It’s no good trying to pretend your’e not there, because your’e so well camouflaged. I saw you fly in there.
I can see perfectly well what your doing.
It really doesn’t wash with me the innocent “I’m just resting in the shade” look. I can see your yellow eggs positioned neatly on the stem. Now flutter off and find some plant I don’t intend to eat to lay your eggs on.
a french garden 
Nice post Amelia, we’ve been chasing these pests too! Despite thye fact that they look nice flying around… and we haven’t been able to get any Nasturtiums established for them to lay on either, yet!
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IS there any natural deterrent? The caterpillars destroyed my rocket and babyleaf this July! (But the butterflies are so pretty!)
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There is a ‘natural’ deterrent, in the form of the biocontrol bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis however I’m personally not a fan of it. You need to really know not only the target’s lifecycle, but all the similar lifeforms that could be active at the same time in the same place, then weigh up whether you really want to use it. In other words B. thuringiensis isn’t specific to Pierid caterpillars, but will attack any caterpillar or similar soft bodied larvae that ingest it.
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I’ve managed to control the caterpillars on my veg by the removal method as they have never reached epidemic proportions. I think B. thuringiensis could be useful if the threat was more important and in difficult to reach areas such as in trees.
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Nice one! I totally overlooked the butterfly in the first photo. Best deterrent I know of is to pick the caterpillars off by hand. It’s easier than removing Japanese Beetles from apple trees.
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That is just what I do. I get a few holes in the leaves but nothing to really bother me.
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He he – love your conversation. I always prefer removal by hand as I am afraid introducing biological controls may upset the natural balance of my garden.
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This made me smile! We’re also having issues right now, with our broccoli. We’re hand picking the little critters, I think it’s perhaps the best removal method. Super photos 🙂
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