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Good to know
Six things about the orange-tip
ColourOnly the boys
Only the males have the orange tips. Females are white with grey-black tips and are easily mistaken for other whites.
DisguiseGreen underneath
The undersides of the hindwings are mottled green and white, perfect camouflage on cow parsley flowers.
SeasonA spring butterfly
Orange-tips only fly from April to June. The rest of the year they spend as a chrysalis.
FoodCuckooflower and garlic
The caterpillars feed on cuckooflower and garlic mustard, on the seed pods rather than the leaves.
EggsOne egg per plant
The caterpillars will eat each other, so a female usually lays only one egg on each plant.
ChrysalisA long sleep
The chrysalis lasts from early summer right through to the next spring, about ten months.
The real thing
Photos of the orange-tip
Out and aboutHow to spot one
Look along damp lanes, verges and garden edges in April and May. Only the males have the orange wing tips; the females look like small whites.
Lend a handHow to help
Let cuckooflower, garlic mustard or honesty grow, and do not cut them down until after midsummer: the chrysalis stays on the dead stem all winter.
Following youLadybird
Who should follow you?
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