Window on Wildlife (3): Orange Tip Butterfly

Male Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines) at WWT, Llanelli

I have seen Orange Tip butterflies before, but it was only over the weekend that I began to wonder whether the orange pigmentation only belonged to the male of the species. A look in my copy of 'The Butterflies of the British Isles' by Richard South confirmed this fact. The female butterflies, who have black and white wing tips, lay their eggs on the Cuckoo Flower (Cardimine pratensis, aka Lady's Smock), the pale pink plant in the photograph.