Community Education on Environment and Development

Common Plant Pests

Cabbage looper

Characteristics

These caterpillars are green with white stripes down their backs. They have front and rear legs but none in the middle, so they arch their back as they crawl. This "looping" motion gives them their name. They chew large, irregular holes in leaves and also bore holes in tomatoes and in cabbage and lettuce heads.

Moths lay eggs singly on undersides of older leaves; eggs are dome-shaped with ridges.

Remedies

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.)
Floating row cover
Parasitic wasp
Tachinid fly

Hosts

Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale

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