Flutter by, butterfly

 

Flutter by, butterfly

Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamnni)
All images courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I was delighted the other day to see a butterfly. I thought it was a Cabbage White, but then discovered it was too early in the year to be that. I looked it up and found that it was (probably) a Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamnni)

There is a belief, unconfirmed, that the word butterfly derives from the colour of male Brimstones. Although the females have pale green wings, which look almost white, the males’ underwings are yellowish-green and the upper wings are quite a bright yellow, rather like butter. Both male and female have an orange spot on each wing.

The Brimstone is defined as a large butterfly with a wing span of 60mm (about 2½”) Brimstones are often considered the first butterflies to be seen in the spring, emerging, ready to mate, from the woodlands they have hibernated in during the winter.

At rest, or while feeding, the leaf-shaped wings are closed, so that they blend in with the leaves of plants they are feeding on and are less conspicuous to predators. The wings are quite noticeably veined, like the leaves of the Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) on which they lay their eggs. The emerging caterpillars feed on the leaves, going through several developmental stages (instars) before pupating in the summer. The new butterflies feed until autumn when they start their hibernation.

Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) 

Brimstones are very rare in Scotland, less so in Ireland and common in England and Wales.

Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) flowers, giving way to black berries

Today we have seen bright sunshine, a very heavy hailstorm, a chill wind and no butterflies!