LOOKING IN THE SQUARE

White butterflies . I am a little perturbed this year at the lack of white butterflies around my garden. I shouldn't be as they lay eggs on my broccoli plants, the eggs turn into green caterpillars which then eat the leaves and get into the florets of the broccoli and are hard to remove before cooking, but though the white butterfly could be labeled a pest they can also be beneficial. You see, white butterflies also pollinate flowers which in turn form seeds that help the plants to propagate or form fruit such as tomatoes. . These butterflies I have found also to be very intelligent and learn from experience, such as avoiding harm when there is a risk to them. They will also assist another white butterflies which they think may be injured, and will fly off with them. . In my garden I do not worry unduly about them as I also have paper wasps that build honeycomb-type nests on my house or fences and they eat the butterfly caterpillars and help to keep their population down. But this is not the reason for the sudden drop in butterflies. . This year I have only seen one white butterfly around my garden, and am mystified as to why. I have phoned several organisations which I think could give a reason, without success. . As the start of our spring and summer has been so cold this year the lack of butterflies could be due to a climatic change as I have no other explanation. . I do hope that they increase in numbers as our summer hopefully warms up. We shall see. .