In article , Philip
writes
"ajr" wrote in message news:41a5af78$1_1@mk-nntp-
2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
Good morning,

A bit surprised to see about 20 caterpillars eating my winter cabbages this
morning. They were roughly 2-3cm long, 'hairy' and black / yellow.

What were they, and more to the point what the hell were they doing in the
garden in November?!?!! I assume that the lack of frost has meant that they
have been happily munching away since the early autumn - *******s.


Do they look like these ?

http://www.srbild.de/bild/bild598.jpg

These are the ones that attack Verbascum. But thats normally in June.
Maybe you have a batch that have hatched, found no Verbascums to eat
and so are making do with whatever they can find.

Without looking them up, I'm not sure what those are, but Verbascum has
its own special caterpillar, the larva of the Mullein moth.

Caterpillars are fairly specific in their food plants, to the extent
that one of the field guides classifies them according to food plant.
Something that eats Verbascum is unlikely also to eat cabbage.

The cabbage caterpillars sound rather like Large White.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"