Black Caterpillars Are Now Scarce On Ragwort Plants
Although ragwort is not uncommon in the Whakatane county there has,' in recent years, been a noticeable decrease in the number of black caterpillars usually found m the ragwort plants. Plants always used to carry these caterpillars a few years ago, but now it is more the exception than the rule to find them.
It has been thought that their decrease may be due to the parasite, which was liberated to deal with the white butterfly, who has taken a heavy toll of this apparently harmless insect.
Proof that the parasite has done it’s work well may be found in the fact that the white butterfly is not as plentiful now as it was a few years ago. However, it is still here in large enough numbers to affect the vegetable gardens.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19490204.2.43
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 49, 4 February 1949, Page 6
Word count
Tapeke kupu
140Black Caterpillars Are Now Scarce On Ragwort Plants Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 49, 4 February 1949, Page 6
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Beacon Printing and Publishing Company is the copyright owner for the Bay of Plenty Beacon. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Beacon Printing and Publishing Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in