Cabbage webworm caterpillar (Hellula undalis) and damage on a kale leaf.

First instar caterpillars of the cabbage webworm feeding in a leaf of kale.

Caterpillar of the cabbage webworm (Hellula undalis feeding in the stem of a kale plant.

Cabbage webworm (Hellula undalis) feeding on a cabbage head. The caterpillars have dark brown or black heads. The body is creamy white with light pinkish-brown longitudinal stripes, attaining a length of 1.2-1.5 cm when fully grown.

Moth of the cabbage webworm (Hellula undalis). Wings ca 1.2 cm long in males, 1.4 cm in females.

Damage to the growing tip of a kale plant caused by the cabbage webworm

Damage by the cabbage webworm as stemborer on a kale plant

Cabbage webworm adults are greyish-brown with pale dusky hindwings; each forewing has a prominent black spot and zigzagging, light brown lines, central band between lines sometimes filled with darker brown scales. Wings ca 1.2 cm long in males, 1.4 cm in females.