<< Previous Next >>

Orange-tip


Orange-tip
Photo Information
Copyright: Joe Kellard (joey) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1696 W: 242 N: 5596] (19883)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-05-16
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon Powershot S3 IS
Exposure: f/3.5, 1/160 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-05-20 5:56
Viewed: 229
Points: 14
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) is a butterfly in the Pieridae family.


Appearance, behaviour and distribution

So named because of the male's bright orange tips to his forwings. 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.


Lifecycle and foodplants

A male Orange Tip on a CuckooflowerThe female lays eggs singly on the flowerheads of Cuckooflower Cardimine pratensis and Garlic Mustard and many other species of wild Crucifers. 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.
nainnain, phlr, eqshannon, uleko, Argus, ridvan has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To ridvan: Thanks againjoey 1 05-22 11:18
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

bonjour joe
un petit peu OE sur les parties blanches mais la netteté est bonne et le POV bien choisit.
tu aurais peu etre pu recadrer un peu!
laurent

bonjour
bonne note pour cette jolie photo claire et tendre, de bons détails sont visible sur un bon BG
bravo, merci
edith

Tout doux et flou, mais donc vrai dans quelque nature. Eclaircir le coup bien que. J'aime la couleur sur ceci l'un. Léger avec une surprise dorée sur les ailes. Bien encadré et backdropped.

Surgir le Désert des Etats-Unis de l'ouest
aka Bob

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2468 W: 168 N: 7464] (23588)
  • [2007-05-20 10:02]

Hello Joe,
Excellent capture of the Orange Tip in a nice pose. Excellent sharpness and good natural colours. Personally I think you've left far too much of the green background in this shot though. I would probably have cropped it vertically.
TFS and regards, Ulla

  • Great 
  • GLEM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 524 W: 87 N: 693] (5739)
  • [2007-05-20 12:03]

salut Joe,
très belle composition, on sent une vraie recherche esthétique dans cette image. Les couleurs sont très complémentaires et vivent.
bon travail

gl

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2613 W: 133 N: 7504] (23403)
  • [2007-05-20 15:04]

Hello Joey,
Great sharp capture of a male Orange Tip with good DOF to produce a bokeh green BG. Cropping more from above and below would make this shot even better.
TFS and best wishes, Ivan

hi joe: nice capture of this lovely butterfly, beautiful colours with nice Bg good composition and details TFS well done.
regards
ridvan

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF