Highland Orange Tips

[Jack Harrison]

5th June 2019
In a remote(ish) place in Highland Moorland NH754245 I came across some Cuckoo Flower by the roadside: it’s not as common here as it is further south and always needs damp conditions. I checked and found one Orange Tip egg indicating that females can travel quite wildly. The locality was open moorland and at least 1 kilometre from [what I normally think of as] more obvious habitat.

I saw no active butterflies but that is hardly surprising in the classic dreich Scottish weather yesterday.

This is NOT that locality but illustrates “dreich” at another spot yesterday.

It is of course possible that the egg is a Green-veined White, a common species even in moorland glens. But I don’t think GVW eggs are ever orange colour. I took a sprig of Cuckoo Flower with egg and will report what happens and expect to confirm Orange Tip.

Jack