Brimstone Mating Times, Dates and Places

[PhilBJohnson]

Hello,
This discussion topic is specifically for those to contribute with Brimstone pictures, mating times, rejection behaviour, dates & places etc, or those that have a knowledge of such events. "Places" might mean specific micro location (for example, hiding under a leaf) but also Countywide, as it was considered to be about 2ºC warmer on average, on the south coast of the Country, compared with the North, so general times, might have varied accordingly, with weather patterns.

16th April 2019 11:23am, Chambers Farm Wood, Lincolnshire

The above timing of this picture taken by a friend (used with permission) in Lincolnshire, suggested to me that the female Brimstone, was mated soon after leaving hibernation.

Female Brimstones were normally, thought to be mated soon after leaving hibernation, when found by a male.
Observed courtship during May and the longevity of the adult butterfly suggested to me that the female might have, quite often mated more than once and so had more than one, fertilised in body batch of eggs to lay during her lifetime. That might have been seen with some other members of Pieridae (White family) with smaller bodies.
It was acknowledged that the mating was not often seen as the butterflies hide, camauflaged.
Eggs were not laid in batches, were they fertilised in batches by different males?

Kind Regards

[lee3764]

Hi there,

I was very fortunate enough to witness and then photograph a pairing (see photo I took below) after their courtship flight on 25th February, 2019 at approx 1:20pm in bright sunshine on an unseasonably warm late winter afternoon at Pontsmill, near Par, South/Mid Cornwall. The Brimstones at this location had probably not been emerged from hibernation for more than 10 days at the most and of course were post-hibernation. This is the only time I have ever witnessed Brimstones mating in over 45 years of butterfly watching!

All good wishes,

Lee Slaughter (Cornwall).

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[David M]

...This is the only time I have ever witnessed Brimstones mating in over 45 years of butterfly watching!

That's one more than me, Lee.

[PhilBJohnson]

Thank you Lee, a cracking picture!
Hiding in those brambles again (brambles were also thought to be a favoured hibernating place).
Another theory I had, was that female Brimstones just mated once and male interest after that (usually seen in May), might have been males still looking for a virgin female, which usually ended in rejection.

Kind Regards

[lee3764]

Thank you Lee, a cracking picture!
Hiding in those brambles again (brambles were also thought to be a favoured hibernating place).
Another theory I had, was that female Brimstones just mated once and male interest after that (usually seen in May), might have been males still looking for a virgin female, which usually ended in rejection.

Kind Regards

Hi Phil,

I saw their courtship flight for a few minutes which may have been going on already when I 1st spotted them. They then both darted down away from the path in the woods and after 90 seconds I suddenly found them in cop underneath the bramble leaves shown on a bramble bush. It was a spectacular & beautiful warm, sunny day in late February early this year!

All best,

Lee.

[PhilBJohnson]

This quote was from a recent post, titled
"Brimstones pairing" on April 13th 2022

Yesterday was a special day for me in my butterfly garden, it being the first time during a lifetime interest in butterflies, that I had witnessed a pair of Brimstones mating. It was instantaneous - she was flying along minding her own business when he plummeted out of nowhere, forced her to the ground, and they immediately paired in low vegetation. No courtship! Normally mating occurs high up in a bush where they are safely concealed. Amazingly, only minutes before I had witnessed another female actually laying eggs on alder buckthorn.

So that looked like April 12th 2022 in Lincolnshire, thanks Phil.
I was just trying to keep these posts, also in one place for a broader understanding.
It is now April 15th 2022 Good Friday, forecast 19ºC and similar temperatures in Lincolnshire, for the next three days. I have only so far, seen male Brimstones in flight this year (about 20 of them) , so I guess (in Lincolnshire, near Lincoln where I was) I have just missed the start of the main female Brimstone Ovipositing, flighty, flight period and there will be more eggs to come, over the next few days....

[Phil Bowler]

Hi PhilB
Last summer's Brimstone brood was one of the best we have had in the garden, with at least 14 seen in our one acre plot surrounded by arable farmland apart from the dyke bank network. Yet this spring so far we have only seen 5, 2 of which females. They normally over-winter in far better proportional numbers than the Nymphalids, but not so this year, seemingly. However, a few have been reported from distant neighbours who could have buckthorn in their wildish gardens without realising. As long as they're around somewhere!
Most springs I see plenty of male-female chases, with long drawn out rituals, but they always seem to end in rejection, suggesting that the females do not mate more than once.

The other Phil B - call me TheBowlerPhil!