Comment: Our clothes are safe, but mind the cabbages Published on: 17 June 2016 Writing for The Conversation, Callum Macgregor talks about the threat of the Channel-hopping Diamondback moths. , The next great plague has descended, and this time it鈥檚 moths. Diamondback moths have been crossing the English Channel over the past fortnight in than usual. Those of you reaching for moth-balls and carpet sprays, stop. There are of British moth (from a ) that damage clothes, and the diamondback is not one of them. You, the reader, really don鈥檛 need to worry 鈥� unless you grow cruciferous vegetables like cabbages or broccoli. Plutella xylostella 鈥� more commonly known as the diamondback 鈥� is one of the world鈥檚 most widespread and prevalent agricultural pests; so widespread, indeed, that as to where exactly its native range lies. Their success belongs in part to their preference as caterpillars for eating plants in the Brassicaceae family. This amazing group of crops (notably the species Brassica oleracea) has been over hundreds of years to make use of almost every part of the plant, and now contains such as cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and turnips, as well as oil-seed rape. The moths lay eggs on brassica leaves; a week later, caterpillars hatch and start eating. An infested plant can quickly be reduced to little more than leaf stems. Cross-Channel travellers Despite being one of the smallest moth species to occur in the UK, with a wingspan of under 15mm, diamondbacks are capable of dispersing vast distances, using the wind to make up for their small size. that without assistance, diamondbacks are only capable of flying 35 metres 鈥� yet when carried along by the wind, they may travel hundreds of miles in a single day. It is this ability to disperse that leads it to British shores. Every summer, adults cross the Channel and attempt to breed in the UK. A number of butterfly and moth species . In some cases, such as the Painted Lady butterfly, the offspring ahead of the winter. For others, including diamondbacks, the offspring will attempt to remain, but British winters are typically too cold for them to survive. What鈥檚 for dinner? Cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Yuangeng Zhang / shutterstock For the moths, these fatalities are an unfortunate side effect of a highly dispersive life history; by having offspring constantly travelling beyond the edge of their range and attempting to breed, the moths ensure that no available space is wasted. Should some of the dispersing moths find a new area that is suitable for breeding success, they will benefit enormously from a lack of competition with their peers and, potentially, the absence of specialised predators and parasites. Thus, these intrepid explorers. Supermoth? And it is once the moths begin to breed that the problems begin for farmers and gardeners, because these are not your average pest. Diamondback has been referred to in some coverage as a 鈥渟uper-moth鈥�. It鈥檚 a title it certainly deserves. The species has proven itself to be extraordinarily adept at evolving resistance to pesticides. Wild populations have developed significant resistance to almost in use, including one of the main classes, pyrethroids. Perhaps more impressively, diamondback was the first insect recorded to have to the bacterial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis; only one other species is known to have managed this since (the 鈥渃abbage looper鈥�, a pest moth named after its favourite food). Interestingly, this has led scientists to target it with the as are employed against the mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever and Zika virus. Field trials are planned in the US for this summer. Tough times on the veg patch In the short-term, perhaps. The influx of moths will soon begin to produce larvae, and these may cause substantial damage to crops where they are able to escape death by insecticide. The damage will be most severe to farmers of leaf crops, such as cabbages or kale, as the holes left behind in leaves by caterpillars make the crop unsellable. Diamondback caterpillars leave cabbage unappetising and unsellable. , Looking at the longer term, this year鈥檚 invasion will die out over the winter. Next year there will be another, but this is nothing new: these moths come to the UK every year in substantial numbers. I spent the summer of 2014 collecting moths on farms in Oxfordshire for a study on the on moths. Out of the 203 species of moth I recorded, diamondback was the 26th most common, forming around 1% of my total catch. Britain鈥檚 cabbage-growers have been dealing with diamondback for years and have managed to persist thus far. They may have a hard summer ahead of them but it is not without hope. Although globally diamondbacks have developed resistance to almost all pesticides, most populations are only resistant to a subset of these, and scientists at Rothamsted Research are the current influx to identify their weaknesses. Armed with the results of that research, farmers may be capable of restricting the damage. , PhD Candidate, This article was originally published on . Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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