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Orange Tip
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
The Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) is a butterfly in the Pieridae family.So named because of the male's bright orange tips to his forewings. The males are a common sight in spring flying along hedgerows and damp meadows in search of the more reclusive female which lacks the orange and is often mistaken for one of the other 'White' butterflies. The undersides are mottled green and white and create a superb camouflage when settled on flowerheads such as Cow Parsley and Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata. The male is able to hide his orange tips by tucking the forwings behind the hindwings at rest. If you look closely at the mottling you will see that the green colour is in fact made up of a mixture of black and yellow scales. It is found across Europe, and eastwards into temperate Asia as far as Japan. The past 30 years has seen a rapid increase in the range of the Orange Tip in the UK particularly in Scotland and Ireland, probably in response to climate change.The female lays eggs singly on the flowerheads of Cuckooflower Cardimine pratensis and Garlic Mustard and many other species of wild Crucifers, all of which contain chemicals called glucosinolates. Females are attracted to larger flowers, such as Hesperis matronalis, even though some such species are poor larval hosts. Selection of foodplants is triggered by the presence of mustard oils, which are detected by chemosensory hairs on the fore-legs. Reproductive rate of females appears to be limited by difficulties in finding suitable hosts. As a consequence, the species has evolved to use a wide range of crucifers. The eggs are white to begin with but change to a bright orange after a few days before darkening off just before hatching. Because the larvae feed almost exclusively on the flowers and developing seedpods there is rarely enough food to support more than one larva per plant. If two larvae meet one will often be eaten by the other to eliminate its competitor. Newly hatched larvae will also eat unhatched eggs for the same reason. To stop eggs from being laid on plants already laid on the female leaves a pheromone to deter future females from laying. There are five larval instars. The green and white caterpillar is attacked by several natural enemies (notably Tachinid flies and Braconid wasps). Pupation occurs in early summer in scrubby vegetation near the foodplant, where they stay to emerge the following spring. Recent research suggests that the emergence of the butterfly may be delayed for as much as two years, thus ensuring the species against unfavourable conditions in a given season.
Damp pastures and meadows, damp woodland edges and glades, riverbanks, ditches, dykes, fens, railway cuttings and country lanes. |
nglen, Pentaxfriend, jusninasirun, cataclysta, siggi, cicindela, KOMSIS, Alex99 has marked this note useful
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- nglen
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2900 W: 34 N: 8586]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(32012) - [2009-05-10 7:58]
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Hi Pawel. This is a good close up of the orange Tip. i like the side POv so we can see the wing markings. You have taken this with fine detail and natural bright colours. well done TFs,
Nick..
Hi Pawel,
Great shot of this beauty
Perfect sharpnes with good details and colors
POV, DOF and BG are superb
TFS Thijs
Hi Pawel,
This butterfly has the shape of our Psyche but the wing pattern is beautiful. I like the hairy details and fine focus on the compound eye. Well silenced background and beautifully perched on the flower.
TFS and best regards,
Jusni
Czesc Pawel
Gratuluje udanego polowania na zorzynka. Kompozycja bardzo ladna, tlo idealnie rozmyte a ostrosc swietna. Moze bym zrobil lekkiem highlights reduction ale ja mam jasny monitor
Dobra robota
Pozdrawiam ;-)
Krzysiek
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- siggi
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1365 W: 56 N: 4667]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(16040) - [2009-05-10 11:10]
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Hello Pawel,
Excellent picture of this wonderful butterfly. Perfect sharpness. Good POV. Light and colours are splendid.
Best regards Siggi
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- Marx44
(2124)
- [2009-05-10 11:11]
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Witam Paweł,
Bardzo dobry strzał Zorzynka. Bardzo trudno je podejść.
Serdzeczności
Marx
Witam Pawle!
Bardzo ladna kompozycja motylarska :) Dobra ostrosc, detal i kolorystyka. No i sam obiekt interesujacy :) Dalsze punkty za rozmyte delikatnie tlo i kontrast jaki robi ono z motylem :)
Pozdrawiam,
Radek
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- PeterZ
(17432)
- [2009-05-10 12:21]
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Hello Pawel,
What a beauty! Excellent photo of this Orange Tip. Superb details in the butterfly. Great clear colours, OOF BG, DOF and POV.
Regards,
Peter
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- KOMSIS
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 232 W: 0 N: 567]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(1943) - [2009-05-11 7:41]
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Hi Pawel,
Splendid Orange Tip with fantastic colors,
superb macro with wonderful details and excellent sharpness.
Best wishes,
Seyfi
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- Alex99
(18529)
- [2009-05-11 8:18]
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Hi Pawel.
Excellent close-up. You have used extended tubes perfectly transformed your amazing zoom in first-class macro lens. Details are superb especially hair on the head and body. Colour pattern of the butterfly wings and wing's colouration are reproduced extremely well. I like wonderful composition of the shot and very impressive direct POV. Bravo.
Alexei.
