
- Cabbage
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Celery
- Basil
What do cabbage loopers like to eat?
Cabbage loopers love cruciferous plants so much that some gardeners limit these plants in their gardens to avoid this common pest. They also love plants not in the cruciferous family, though, so don’t get comfortable just because you don’t have any broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower in your veggie patch. The plants they love include:
Are cabbage loopers harmful to Broccoli?
Keep your cabbage, broccoli, and other vegetables safe from cabbage loopers with these helpful tips. Cabbage loopers are small caterpillars with big appetites. They can be one of the most destructive pests in the vegetable garden. The bugs love plants in the cabbage family, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and collard greens.
What can I plant to kill cabbage loopers?
Attract beneficial insects: Planting flowers, such as marigolds, calendula, sunflower, daisy, alyssum, or dill nearby can attract beneficial insects that attack and kill cabbage loopers and cabbage butterflies.
What are loopers in broccoli?
Its larvae is a common and destructive pest often found in cole crops, cruciferous plants, or brassicas like cabbages, kale, collards, kohlrabi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, and cauliflower. They are called loopers because of the way they move through the leaves they feed on.

How do you treat cabbage loopers?
Bacillus thuringiensis and moderately selective insecticides (such as chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram) are very effective against cabbage looper and imported cabbageworm, especially when applied to early-instar (young) caterpillars.
What do green garden loopers eat?
Like their name suggests, cabbage loopers primarily feed on cabbage as well as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radish, turnip and other cruciferous crops. They can also feed on other garden produce including cucumber, lettuce, pea, pepper, potato, spinach, squash, sweet potato, tomato and watermelon plants.
What do looper caterpillars eat?
Host Plants (Back to Top) The cabbage looper feeds on a wide variety of cultivated plants and weeds. As the common name implies, it feeds readily on crucifers, and has been reported damaging broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, mustard, radish, rutabaga, turnip, and watercress.
Do cabbage loopers eat tomatoes?
Cabbage loopers are small caterpillars with big appetites. They can be one of the most destructive pests in the vegetable garden. The bugs love plants in the cabbage family, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and collard greens. This insect will also attack potato, tomato, spinach, and cucumbers.
Do cabbage worms eat lettuce?
They are small and brownish with a turned up tail. All three have green larvae that will munch your cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, mustards, Bok Choy and kale.
Do cabbage worms eat peppers?
Both worms are bright green with long horns on the back side. Both feed on peppers, but they may also target tomatoes, tobacco, and other nightshade plants such as eggplants and potatoes.
How long do cabbage loopers live?
An adult cabbage looper moth can live for at least 10-12 days after emerging from pupation (and sometimes longer) and can lay 275-300 eggs in their lifespan.
How do you grow a cabbage looper?
Larvae are 1-1/2 inches long and are green with pale stripes down their back. They loop their bodies as they crawl. The caterpillars feed on plants for 3–4 weeks....Handpick insects. ... Use row covers. ... Plant tolerant varieties. ... Fall sanitation. ... Control weeds. ... Use insecticidal soap or Bt spray. ... Use insecticidal sprays.
Do cabbage loopers become butterflies?
Cabbage worms become cabbage white butterflies, which are mostly white with a few black markings. Cabbage white butterflies might seem like a pretty addition to the garden, but they are probably laying eggs on the undersides of leaves.
What are some cabbage looper natural enemies?
Wasps are the looper larvae's biggest enemy. Release trichogramma wasps to destroy eggs. The natural, soil dwelling bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt-kurstaki is particularly effective on inch worms of all types. Use easily applied spray to hit worms and protect the leaves at the first signs of damage.
Are cabbage loopers the same as cabbage worms?
The Cabbage looper is the larvae of a moth, and the Cabbage Worm, the larvae of a buPerfly. The adult moths and buPerflies don't do any damage, but the caterpillars chew ragged holes in the leaves of the plants. Cabbage worms may also tunnel into the head of a cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower.
What does a cabbage looper caterpillars turn into?
Once the looper pupates, it becomes a grayish brown moth. The larvae have chewing mouthparts, which damage foliage on a wide range of plants. The chewing behavior leaves foliage tattered and ragged with jagged edges. Cabbage looper control and management helps ensure the vitality of your plants.
Do loopers turn into butterflies?
A: They turn into cabbage looper moths, not butterflies. Q: How long does it take for a cabbage looper to turn into a moth? A: It takes 8-15 days for a cabbage looper to pupate and turn into a moth. The entire life cycle from egg to adult takes up to 35 days.
What are some cabbage looper natural enemies?
Wasps are the looper larvae's biggest enemy. Release trichogramma wasps to destroy eggs. The natural, soil dwelling bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt-kurstaki is particularly effective on inch worms of all types. Use easily applied spray to hit worms and protect the leaves at the first signs of damage.
What are loopers for?
A loop pedal, or looper pedal, is an electronic device that creates instant recordings of a musical performance and plays those recordings back in real-time.
How do you control looper moths?
It is best to use organic cabbage looper pesticides on food crops. They are safer and do not kill most beneficial insects. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an organic bacterium, which occurs naturally in soil. Pesticides with spinosad are also effective and safe, with little impact on beneficial insects.
What Do Cabbage Loopers Look Like?
Cabbage loopers are merely the 3-4 cm long soft-bodied larvae of much larger adult moths.
Cabbage Looper Damage
Young and developing larvae from moths and butterflies are notorious for being ravenous leaf eaters all the way until adult maturity.
What Do Cabbage Loopers Eat?
Don’t let the name fool you because cabbage loopers have a much broader appetite than just cabbage, kale, and other cruciferous vegetables.
Cabbage Looper Eggs
Adult moths of fully matured cabbage loopers do not lay dense clusters of eggs, but merely lay 1-7 solitary eggs at a time on the underside of host leaves. Larger moths and butterflies do not lay eggs as frantically as much smaller pests because moths can fly great distances to lay an average of 250-350 over the course of their lives.
Get Rid of Cabbage Loopers
Cabbage loopers are easier to remove from the garden because they are smaller, softer, and have more predators than larger beetles or hornworms.
Cabbage Looper Control
Cabbage loopers are generally not found in swarms and, if detected early, can be simply removed by hand. Diatomaceous earth is one of the most effective treatment for insects that do not fly, such as the larval cabbage looper.
Cabbage Looper Treatment
Diatomaceous Earth - One of the most effective treatments for caterpillars, slugs, and snails
Trichoplusia ni
If your garden looks like the aftermath of a visit from the Very Hungry Caterpillar, you may be dealing with cabbage loopers.
Identification, Biology, and Life Cycle
The cabbage looper is the larval stage of the Trichoplusia ni moth, a member of the Noctuidae family.
Distribution
Cabbage loopers are found throughout the US, although they only overwinter in warmer climates.
How to Manage Cabbage Loopers
These pests mainly feed on brassicas but will also attack other crops including radishes, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, and beans.
Look Out for Loopers
If left unchecked, cabbage loopers can do significant damage to your crops, but once you’ve identified their presence they are relatively easy to control.
What Is A Cabbage Looper?
A cabbage looper can feed on cabbage, kale, broccoli, and other cole crops.
What Plants Do Cabbage Loopers Affect?
Cabbage loopers eat tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, celery, parsley, beets, peas, and potatoes.
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About Cabbage Looper Pests
Cabbage loopers have up to seven instars. The larvae mature to thick green caterpillars with a white stripe running along either side. They have five pairs of prologs and a cigar shaped body, which is thinner at the head end.
How to Get Rid of Cabbage Loopers
The easiest, most accessible, and safest way to get rid of cabbage looper pests is by manual removal. The caterpillars are big enough that you can easily spot them. Look in the morning and late evening when temperatures are cool. Pull off the icky little things and dispose of them.
Cabbage Looper Control
It is best to use organic cabbage looper pesticides on food crops. They are safer and do not kill most beneficial insects. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an organic bacterium, which occurs naturally in soil.
