Cabbage maggot-Delia radicum - Garden Cabbage Maggots

Cabbage maggot larvae are small, legless, and white, usually less than 0.33 inch when full grown; the head end is pointed and the rear is blunt. Adults are dark gray flies about half the size of the common housefly.

Life cycle

Damage
Maggots tunnel through root systems of all cole crops. Tunnels provide entryways for pathogens. Youngest plants are most susceptible; healthy plants attacked after they are well established can usually tolerate moderate infestations.

Solutions
Prevention is the best management strategy. Avoid overfertilization with manure; maggots prefer to lay eggs in rich soil. Disc weeds at least two weeks before planting. Plant transplants or pregerminated seeds. Cover seedbeds with protective cloth or cover individual plants. Remove infested plants. Once plants are infested, maggots cannot be reliably controlled with pesticides.

Cabbage maggot larvae

Damage to root of seedling

Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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