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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Orange tip
Anthocharis cardamines LINNAEUS, 1758
Family - PIERIDAE
subfamily - PIERINAE
tribe - ANTHOCHARIDINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, male nectaring at violet, Stansted Forest, West Sussex
 
Introduction

The Orange tip, like the primrose and the cuckoo, is a true herald of spring. It is one of the very few species that are on the increase in Britain, having spread northwards in recent decades, whilst still remaining widespread and abundant in the south.

The bright orange tips to the male's forewings are believed to be aposematic, acting as a warning to birds that the butterflies contain toxins ( mustard oils ) derived from the larval foodplants. Females lack the orange - they lead much more sedentary and inconspicuous lives so possibly have less need to "advertise" their toxicity.
It is unlikely that the orange of the male serves any purpose in mate location - in this species it is the male that searches for the female. The female therefore has no need to visually locate the male.
 
Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, male basking on elder, Selborne, Hampshire, England
 
Humans and birds perceive colours and patterns in a different way to butterflies, as the latter have the ability to detect ultra-violet radiation. The white wings of the Small White Pieris rapae and Green-veined White Pieris napi reflect high levels of UV, and look much the same when viewed by visible or UV light. The white areas of the Orange tip however absorb almost all UV. Thus male Orange tips can easily distinguish between females of their own species, and those of other "whites", all of which to a butterfly would appear to much brighter than a female Orange tip.
 
In Europe the female Orange tip can easily be confused with the Dappled Whites Euchloe ausonia and E. simplonia, although both of these are more heavily marked with green on the underside hindwings, and have more angular forewings.
 
The only European species with which the male can be confused is Gruner's Orange tip Anthocharis gruneri, but that species, which occurs only in south-eastern Europe, is markedly smaller, and has a more yellowish ground colour.
 
Elsewhere in the world there are several other Orange tip species including A. sara from Alaska, A. cethura from California, and A. bieti from Tibet and Siberia. The latter two species have very falcate apices on the forewings. Zegris fausti from Turkestan is also similar in appearance but has a strongly recurved forewing costa. The 40 African Colotis "Orange tips" have plain undersides, and are only distantly related.
 
Anthocharis cardamines is found throughout most of Europe, but is absent from much of the Iberian peninsula, and from northern Scandinavia. It's range extends far beyond Europe, being found throughout temperate Asia to Amurland and Japan.
 
Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, female nectaring at garlic mustard
 
Habitats

In southern Britain the Orange tip can be encountered in almost any habitat, but is most commonly seen in damp sheltered areas where it's larval foodplants grow. These include riverbanks, ditches, dykes, hedgerows, damp meadows, fens, railway cuttings, damp woodland glades, and country lanes. In northern England the species is more localised, confined largely to riverbanks, but in Scotland, where the butterfly is increasing it's presence, it is more catholic in it's choice of habitats.

In continental Europe the butterfly also occurs on marshland, moors, arid scrub, and on alpine pastures at altitudes up to 2100m.

Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, female nectaring at common vetch
 
Lifecycle
 

Orange tips emerge in April or early May, and remain on the wing until the end of May, or occasionally mid June.

 

They lay their eggs singly on the flower stalks of the larval foodplants - garlic mustard, cuckoo flower, and less frequently charlock, hedge mustard and watercress. Sometimes more than one egg can be found per plant, but this is unusual, as the butterflies seem able to detect the presence of eggs that have already been laid.

 

Weather conditions during the flight season have a great affect on butterfly abundance the following year. In "early" seasons a high percentage of eggs are laid on cuckoo flower Cardamine pratensis, but in "late" seasons the majority are laid on garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata. Larval survival is higher on garlic mustard than on cuckoo flower, probably because this plant produces larger and more abundant seedpods. Hence a late "season" tends to result in higher numbers of adults being seen the following year.

 

When first laid, the skittle-shaped eggs are greenish-white, but quickly turn to orange, and then to grey. They hatch after about 8 days.

 

The larvae when very young are pale orange, and feed on the flowers of the foodplants. After the first moult they become a dull green, and feed on the flower-stalks, and later on the seedpods and leaves. When fully grown they are pale bluish green, with a white lateral line, below which the colour changes to dark green. They habitually rest on the seedpods, on which they are superbly camouflaged.

 

Orange tip larvae are noted for their cannibalistic tendencies - this may have evolved because some of the larval foodplants ( e.g. cuckoo flower ) only produce enough seed pods and foliage to sustain a single larva through to full development. Larvae will not leave the plants on which they hatch, so for their own survival it becomes necessary for them to devour their competing brethren.

Caterpillars which have been feeding on cuckoo flower leave the plants when ready to pupate, and attach themselves with a silken girdle to a nearby woody stem. Larvae on garlic mustard however often pupate on the stems of the plant.

The distinctive boomerang-shaped pupa cannot be mistaken for any other species. It occurs in two colour forms - pale green, or brownish. The latter is by far the commoner.

Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, female basking on garlic mustard
 
Adult behaviour
 

Male Orange tips begin emerging in early April, followed about a week later by the females. As with many other butterfly species, female Orange tips must mate within a couple of days of emergence, after which they appear to lose their attraction to the males, so the staggered emergence is nature's way of ensuring that there are plenty of males available when the females emerge.

 

There is virtually no variation in the colouring or patterning of Orange tips, but there is a great deal of variation in size. The smaller butterflies may result from larvae that have fed on cuckoo flower - these plants often have barely enough foliage to sustain the larvae, and it is possible that they literally run out of food, and pupate early.

 

When seen in flight, female Orange tips can be difficult to distinguish from Green-veined Whites, but when they settle, the beautiful mottled green markings on the underside hindwings make identification easy. The green colour is actually an illusion caused by a mottling of black and yellow scales. The markings are an extremely effective camouflage which works against a variety of backgrounds - the butterflies are equally difficult to spot when at rest on bracken fronds, hazel leaves, or nettles; or on the white flowers of garlic mustard or umbellifers.

 

Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, female resting on garlic mustard

 

Orange tips visit a wide variety of wild flowers including bluebell, bugle, wood anemone, blackthorn, primrose, hawthorn, garlic mustard, early purple orchid, common vetch, dog violet, colt's foot, dandelion and cuckoo flower.

 

When nectaring or settling for short periods, they normally keep their wings half open, but in hazy weather or late evening sunshine they will bask for long periods with the wings fully outspread.

 

Orange tip Anthocharis cardamines, male at roost on bluebell, Stansted Forest, West Sussex

 

Orange tips roost openly, even in wet or windy weather, and can be found at dusk and dawn settled on the flower heads of cuckoo flower, garlic mustard, bluebells and hazel or nettle leaves, in sheltered and lightly wooded situations.

 

 
                                                       
Almost every British and European species of butterfly is declining rapidly in numbers, due in most cases to loss or degradation of habitats.
 
You can help to reverse the decline by supporting conservation organisations which purchase and manage habitats as nature reserves, and which lobby government at local, national and international levels, often very successfully, to bring about changes in farming, forestry and urban development policies.
 
Please contact the conservation organisations for advice on how you can help protect British and European butterflies and their habitats. You may be able to offer practical help e.g. by monitoring butterfly populations or helping to manage nature reserves. Donations to these organisations enable them to employ ecologists and biologists. Even if you are unable to provide such help, merely having your name on the membership list can be a powerful tool for conservation organisations wishing to demonstrate the levels of support they have for their policies.

 

 
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