At six this morning this male orange-tip butterfly wasn’t quite ready to get moving. Look really closely near to the end of its wings. You can just make out the orange on the underside of the forewing that he has tucked away while he sleeps.
Male orange-tips are one of the first butterflies of the year to emerge from their chrysalis, usually in April, with the females about a week behind. Males can often be seen flitting along hedgerows and vegetation searching for the females who are more secretive and less easy to spot.
While the males are distinctive, the females lack the orange tip and can be mistaken for other white butterflies. However, they have a distinctive small black dot on their forewing and a patterned underside to their hindwings which clearly identifies them. (If by chance you actually manage to find one and it happens to stay still long enough for you to actually see!)
The females lay their eggs singly, often on cuckooflower or garlic mustard. After a few days the eggs turn bright orange and after a week they hatch. The caterpillars feed on the host plant before forming a chrysalis where they will stay until the following spring.