The insect shown in your photos is a Harlequin Bug. It has a straw-like mouthpart and sips on plant sap (it doesn't chew). They are common pests of plants in the cabbage family (which includes kale, broccoli, collards, etc.). For the next growing season, it's a good practice to use a row cover fabric or insect mesh when planting your crops to exclude this particular pest. When they are already present on unprotected crops, you can manually crush the adults, nymphs, and eggs. We have photos of those life stages and further information on our Harlequin Bugs page.

For chewing damage and worms, you might be seeing imported cabbageworms or cabbage loppers, which are active now on cabbage crops. Again, row cover used at the start of the growing season will help with prevention of these pests in the future. Found caterpillars can be removed and destroyed. The biopesticide, Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) or neem oil can be used with heavy infestations, following all product label instructions.


Spotted lanternflies do not chew plants (they have a straw-like mouthpart and cannot chew). They are not causing any serious damage to home-grown vegetable plants.

Christa