A Small White Butterfly, Pieris rapae, feeding on nectar from a purple ‘Buzz’ Buddleja flower in my garden
Of the five butterfly species which visit my garden, this is the one which I’m more likely to see outwith the late August – Mid September timeframe. However, at other times of year, it is just ‘flitting through’, never staying long enough for me to photograph. Like the others, it really seems to prefer Buddlejas.
This species is one of two which are known as the Cabbage White Butterfly because their caterpillars’ preferred food are brassicas, particularly cabbages. If your garden brassica crops are being ravaged, try planting ‘sacrificial’ nasturtiums nearby, to see if they can lure butterflies away to lay their eggs on the nasturtiums.
If that doesn’t work, the advice from the Wildlife Trusts is to “try placing horticultural fleece over your vegetables to stop the butterfly laying its eggs on them.”
This image is copyright © Liz Leyden, all rights reserved.
A wider view of my original photo of a Small White Butterfly is available to licence as a Rights-managed stock photo from Alamy.
