14 Wednesday Apr 2021
Tags
British butterflies, Green-veined white, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Orange-tip butterfly, Orange-tip male, spring butterflies
With the help of a little warm sunshine, Lavernock Nature Reserve came up trumps for me yesterday, as I found my first Orange-tip and Green-veined white butterflies for 2021, two of each. So beautiful, so lucky!
10 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, spring, wildflowers
Tags
#365DaysWild, British butterflies, Cuckooflower, Orange-tip butterfly, Orange-tip egg, Orange-tip female, Orange-tip male
A sequence of events that unfolded before me this afternoon….
A male Orange-tip butterfly feeding on one of its favourite flowers, and the host plant for its caterpillars, the Cuckooflower.
Finished feeding on that flower, the male flies on and suddenly smells a female. Woohoo!
Sadly for him, this female has already mated, which is why she’s holding her body in that odd upright manner. He remains hopeful for a moment or two, then gets the message and flies off.
I follow the female who flies to another flower. She’s not eating so what’s she’s doing, I wonder.
Aha! Can you spot the single egg attached to the flower stalk, in the very centre of the picture? I’ll have to go back in a week or so and see if I can spot any caterpillars on these flowers.
