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Meadow and hedgerow · Butterflies and moths
Orange-tip
Anthocharis cardamines
A small white butterfly. Only the male has the bright orange wing tips. Both are mottled green underneath.
- Size
- Wingspan about 4.5cm
- Look for it
- April to June
- Where
- Damp meadows, river banks, lanes and gardens
My spotter's list
Flutters after you along the hedge. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the orange-tip
SignA sign of spring
It flies for only a few weeks, from April into June. Seeing one means spring has properly arrived.
FemaleThe female has no orange
She has grey-black tips, and is easy to mistake for a small white until she lands.
HideMoss-green camouflage
The green marbling underneath makes it vanish on a head of cow parsley.
EggOne egg, bright orange
The female lays a single egg on a flower stalk. It starts pale and turns orange in a day or two.
YoungCaterpillars that eat each other
There is only enough food on one plant for one caterpillar, so the first to hatch eats any other eggs it finds.
WaitTen months as a chrysalis
It spends most of the year as a thorn-shaped chrysalis on a stem, waiting for the next spring.
The real thing
Photos of the orange-tip
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
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Out and aboutHow to spot one
Look for cuckooflower in damp grass, or garlic mustard along a hedge. The males patrol up and down past them.
Lend a handHow to help
Leave garlic mustard and cuckooflower standing through summer: the chrysalis is on the dead stem.
Following youLadybird
Who should follow you?
The garden
Meadow and hedgerow
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Pond and stream
The log pile
After dark
Bugs from other parts of the world live on their own pages: choose another.
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