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Do Not Disturb "Please" (18)
Robbrown
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1211 W: 90 N: 2159]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (6062) | 1st Orange Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) of the year, this one a male, you can tell by the pale orange showing through the rear of the wings. This male is asleep on the tip of a hawthorn shoot, in the middle of his staked out patch. I 1st saw him patroling his patch when I went to look over the nature reserve at Willwell railway cutting, to see if the Green winged orchids were up yet.He would not settle so I left him to it, when I finished getting some pictures of the orchids I spotted him resting in a final spot of sunshine and did not seem to want to move.so I set the tripod up again and got several shots before the light got too dark.
The orange tip is one of the earliest of our native butterflies the male is hightly recoginsable when flying because of the bright orange areas on the top wing surfaces, the female on the other hand often gets mistaken for a small white the biggest differance is that the Small white has 2 black spots but the female orange tip has only one and is slightly smaller. when the wings are closed at rest the differance is obvious the oranges both have a mottled green over laying the white, which makes them very difficult to find them when they perch up to rest and close the wings.
They are around only for a short while about 18 days , the males emerge 1st and stake out a patch of suitable ground with some suitable food plants for its prospective young, Cuckoo Flower Wild Turnip , Creeping Yellow Cress and Garlic Mustard in fact more than 30 members of the cabbage family are listed being used as food plants.
The eggs are laid just behind the flower heads the young caterpillars produce a sort of honey dew which ants collect from them as a food source. They over winter as chysalises on the stems of the food plants looking very much like a seed pod.
thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed |
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