Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment

All cabbage whites great and small – oh lord, gardeners hate them all

A cabbage white caterpillar on a nasturtium flower. They’re keen on brassicas, says David Cordingley.
A cabbage white caterpillar on a nasturtium flower. They’re keen on brassicas, says David Cordingley. Photograph: Graham Turner/The Guardian

In the interests of accuracy, I can confirm that we gardeners don’t differentiate between the large white and small white butterflies, nor do we call ’em “cabbage whites” (Letters, 23 June). We calls ’em “bloody cabbage whites”. And it’s neither the butterfly nor the larva that eats our brassicas – it’s the bloody caterpillars, especially that little green ’un that hides along the central rib. We hate him!
David Cordingley
Lincoln

• Your article (Microplastic discovery in penises raises erectile dysfunction questions, 19 June) quoted a doctor saying: “During an erection, a fifth of the blood volume in the whole body gets pumped to the penis.” Was he really suggesting that two pints of blood go to the penis? Is blood compressible? Where does this man buy his trousers?
Denis Compton
Worcester

• Delighted to see you introducing a new game of Where’s Willy with your bird’s-eye-view photo of the Naked Bike Ride in Guadalajara, Mexico (Photos of the day, 23 June).
Alan Paterson
Cambridge

• In photos of my baptism, the priest is holding me as a baby at the side of the font. But they were taken after the service – my godmother aunts would have smashed the cameras of anyone snapping the service itself. A church wedding is a sacred sacrament, and should be respected as such (Wedding wars! How photographers took over – and vicars fought back, 18 June).
Elizabeth Elliott
Sprotbrough, South Yorkshire

• It is difficult to understand the extent of self-inflicted damage by the Tory party during this election campaign. Unless influential Tories have placed big bets on a massive wipeout for their party – then it would all make sense.
Mike Cashman
Milton Keynes

• Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.