Small White larvae 'cannibalising' large white.
Small White larvae 'cannibalising' large white.
The other day I watched a small white larvae emerge, and, after eating quite a bit of it's own egg shell it then moved onto a large white egg that was next to it and started eating this. This got me thinking; does this happen more often than people think? Does the solitary Small White actively kill Large White ova ? Logically this would increase the chances of the small white making it through the development, as the large whites live communally and can totally devour a food plant in short order, which 'could' mean death through starvation for the small white. has their been any studies done on this?