Donegal Wildlife Database - Insects - Lepidoptera - Butterflies - Pieridae

Anthocharis cardamines - Orange Tip

 

The female lays a single egg on the flower stalk of Cuckoo Flower. The larva hatches and eats only the pods of the plant until it is ready to pupate.

Egg on Lady's Smock

The next 5 images show the larva in sequential stages of development.

    

   

The mustard-seed oils in the seedpods make the larvae and adults unpalatable to predators such as birds.

Two underside shots; male on the left, and female on the right:

    

Upper shots of female (left) and male (right).

  

Home