www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I know many others have already said it - but this sequence really is superb! Each photo is excellent in its own right.

Congratulations,
Mike

Thanks for all the positive comments everyone

Roger: - I have now extended the sequence to show some of the wing inflation process. Hope you like it .

Dean: - I work with a Canon Powershot G10, which is not an SLR. It does have the advantage over some other compact cameras in that it allows the built-in flash to operate while on macro setting. I believe that anybody with the time, interest and inclination can produce similar images and sequences after some experience. All of my shots are hand-held and, unless it is a special one-off sequence, I usually take a dozen of each individual a day and save the best ones.

All of my male Orange-tips have now emerged, the final one being an absolute beauty...........
This now leaves 6 females to monitor. Another project is also in the course of being finalised and I should be posting a detailed report in the next few weeks.

Vince

I have yet to see an Orange-tip in the wild in the 2013 season and records will show that they are running approximately one month later than usual. However, the pupae that I have been over-wintering have now started to hatch and they still never cease to amaze.

Whilst many aspects of their development have already been covered in this topic, a new opportunity was to present itself in July last year when I found a green pupa. Up until that time I had only encountered the brown form of this stage, so I was keen to document its development as it approached emergence. The pupa was found on a Garlic Mustard stem in my garden and was not derived from one of numerous larvae that I usually rescue from roadside verges.
You can still see signs of old feeding damage on the seedpod above the pupa.
It stayed green all winter, but started to darken towards the end of March 2013.
Almost overnight on 21st April it suddenly paled. This was a sure sign that it would be a female.
In the next few days the wing colours started to show more strongly, but then paled again in the hours just before emergence.
She was released into the garden a few hours later and flew away strongly.
I had 10 pupae in all, which have so far produced 5 males and 2 females. To date all have been released and there are 3 females yet to emerge.

However things sometimes take a sinister turn. In 2021 a green pupa which had overwintered in captivity started to show some patchy discolouration over the course of about a week.
After 5 further days of no change, the puparium of a parasitic Tachinid fly was found. This staged shot shows the dried mucus trail left by the fly grub as it emerged from the butterfly pupa and the resulting puparium. The grub usually crawls further away from its host and pupates in a sheltered spot.
The adult fly emerged 19 days after the grub pupated and was identified as Phryxe nemea by Chris Raper at the Natural History Museum. Here is another parasitised pupa, this time from 2014, again showing unnatural discolouration and the dried mucus trail left by the parasitic grub.
Vince

Isn't all that fantastic!

Great work Vince.

Highly inspirational and a pleasure to read as always ...

Your attention to detail is beyond commendable, Vince.

Excellent stuff once again.

Thanks guys

Some of the 5 Orange-tip males which I released have stayed in the close vicinity and continue to patrol adjacent gardens when the sun comes out. I have also observed both of the females I released a few days ago being mated, but they were in a neighbouring garden, so did not get any photos. All tend to roost in the same area overnight or when when the temperature drops during the day. Two females which emerged yesterday were released today, whilst the final one should emerge shortly.

The release point is a clump of Garlic Mustard which self-seeded from last years plants in a sheltered spot of the garden. I wait for an approaching break in the cloud and put them on the plant. When the sun breaks through, each will gradually open their wings and bask for a few moments before flying off.
I only got photos of one of the 5 males. This one appears to have some extra black markings on the wingtips, but I don't know if it counts as an aberration.
I am working on two other species at the moment

Vince

Hello Vince,
This year (2021), someone was fortunate enough to have an early stage Orange-tip egg in their garden.
Once the Orange egg was seen, the top approx. 350mm of Garlic mustard (GM) was cut and placed straight away in a 250ml recycled glass bottle filled with water and "window ledged", indoors. It was left in the shade to begin with, as GM can wilt fast. It was noted not to use a wide top vase, to reduce risk of subject instar drowning and decrease water evaporation. Another stem of GM was added over a week after egg hatched.
At instar 5, the OT subject was placed in a habitat cage (micro mesh net, that also prevented tachinid flies from entering).

My question is, do you know what Orange-tip larval instars are parasitised?, as I assumed, by moving the egg in this manner, collecting parasites was also avoided. Kind Regards

Hi Philip,

I can't be absolutely sure at what stage Orange-tip larva are parasitised by Tachinid flies or others, but I'm sure it varies with the attacking species. I have seen Braconid wasps injecting eggs into newly-emerged 1st instar Large White larvae, Chalcid wasps attacking 5th instar Large White larvae and pupae and Tachinid flies darting into a group of 3rd and 4th instar Peacock larvae to lay eggs on their bodies. The fact that your egg and larva has been kept indoors would absolutely minimise the chances of it being parasitised.

Vince