[Carlisle Newby]

Hi , 1st time grower of cabbage and cauli and have just noticed eggs type things clustered round the stem of both.
They look a bit like caviar, could anyone tell me what they are and if just washing them off is enough to protect my plants

[AnnieB]

Would initially suspect the standard cabbage white butterfly.
Anyone would need more information (colour?) and if possible a picture.

[Carlisle Newby]

Well these eggs are the colour and size of black caviar, I've been picking the little yellow cabbage white eggs off the leaves but these seem to have been laid in the the gap between the leaf stem and main plant stem.
 I've had them netted since I squished the initial butterly eggs, do they grow and fall down the leaf, I thought they just hatched on the leaves?

[Yorkie]

I initially thought the butterfly, but they tend to lay on the leaves and are yellow as your say.

If it's black and on the stem, I wonder about cabbage root fly?  But I have no idea what it looks like, whether it is actually visible above ground, and whether that is what you've got, sorry

[mumofstig]

cabbage root fly

Pesticide Action Network :The cabbage root fly, Delia radicum, is found all over Europe. They are 0.5-1cm long, grey, and resemble common houseflies. As the weather warms up in spring the flies hatch from over-wintering pupae in the soil. The flies feed on nectar and lay small white eggs (1mm in diameter) near the surface of soil next to brassica

Are you sure the eggs are not just droppings from caterpillars, or even blackfly?

[DD.]

Definitely sounds like another case of caterpillar plop.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=40318.0

[AnnieB]

Apologies, when you said looked like caviar I presumed that you meant in size and not in colour also.

Afraid I cannot really help, just looked at a book of butterfiles and one of the FSC guides. Seem to be about 30 white+yellow butterflies and about half of them eat brassicas. I can get the habitat, wing span, location and size of them. What I cannot get is the egg colour.

They may be root fly but again no real information on that either. If root fly then don't just knock them on to the soil as they will hatch and burrow down and munch away.

[Salmo]

Cabbage root fly eggs are white and are laid on the soil. I am with caterpillar poo.