The adult male orange-tip is unmistakable; white medium-sized butterflies with bright orange wingtips on their primary wings with a single black spot in each. The females are white with grey/black wingtips. Both have beautiful mottled mossy-green under-wings. Orange-tips regularly visit gardens, but generally prefer damp habitats, such as meadows, woodland glades and the banks of streams and rivers.
Behaviour
The male is not only the more visible, but also the more active of the two sexes, as it searches out a mate. The more secretive female looks for suitable plants on which to lay; she initially locates a plant by sight before alighting on the plant and tasting it with her feet (where there are taste sensors). If the plant is suitable, a single greenish egg is laid on a flower stalk or bud. Eggs are laid singly for good reason; the larvae are cannibalistic. As a result, it is uncommon to find more than one egg per plant. The egg turns orange and then brown before a larva emerges after 1 or 2 weeks, which feed on the developing seed pod. There are four moults in total and the larval stage lasts between 3 and 4 weeks. The pupa is green when first formed, with the majority eventually turning light brown to more-closely match its surroundings. This species overwinters in this stage, a butterfly emerging approximately eleven months later.
The primary food plants are cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).
Size
- Wingspan: 4.0 – 5.2 cm
- Average lifespan of adult: up to four weeks
Status
The orange-tip is one of the few butterflies whose population and distribution are both increasing. As such, it is not a species of conservation concern.
Distribution
The orange-tip is not as widespread in Scotland as in Ireland, England and Wales. Recent surveys suggest that its geographic range has increased in Scotland over the past 25-30 years and it is now found as far north as Moray, but remains scarce or absent from the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles. The recent spread of the orange-tip means they can now be observed in Argyll, East and West Inverness-shire and much of Aberdeenshire.
When to see
Flying adults can be seen from the beginning of April into early July.
Facts
- In the British Isles, Anthocharis cardamines tends to take a rather particular form; so much so, as to merit the sub-species name Anthocharis cardamines Britannica. It is distinguished by a somewhat long and narrow shape of the forewings, limited extent of the golden/orange spot and by the extent of the black spot.
- It is thought that the orange tips of the male are an example of warning colouration, indicating that the butterfly is not particularly palatable to predators, a result of mustard oils that have accumulated in the body from the larval food plant.
- In order to prevent eggs from other females being laid on plants already laid on, the female leaves a pheromone to deter future females from laying.