Anthocharis cardamines
This species is widely-distributed throughout Sussex, but it is most common where Cuckooflower and Garlic Mustard grow in abundance. These are the two main larval foodplants and they grow well in damp, sunny locations which may be found in woodland clearings, by streams and ponds, and also hedgerows, overhanging water-filled ditches. The preferred damp conditions are more likely to be found in the northern half of the county and in the main river valleys, and that is where Orange-tips can be quite common. Sightings are fewer on the dry, open areas of the South Downs and the coastal plain.
Between 2006-2024 the “average first sighting” was March 29th (range, February 17th to April 20th) and this first brood flies to the second half of June. There is an occasional second brood, with records mostly in August, as for 16/08/2011, 14/08/2015 and 02/08/2017. More rarely we may even have records for September, as on 20/09/2012, when quite remarkably, a mating pair was spotted in a Shoreham garden.
With bright orange tips to the forewings, the male is an easy ID. In flight, the more elusive female can be confused with a Green-veined White or even a Small White, but when perched the green mottled undersides readily identify.
As already mentioned, Cuckooflower and Garlic Mustard are the principal larval foodplants but in my Storrington garden, Honesty and Dames Violet are also used for egg-laying.
This species does not form discrete colonies but is a wanderer, with the males looking for females, and the females looking for suitable larval foodplants. The quiet country lanes between Billingshurst, Five Oaks, The Haven and Horsham, including Warnham Nature Reserve are good places to find this species.
The earliest to emerge are often in the major river valleys and the North Stoke amphitheatre at TQ035106, never fails to deliver early records.
Male Orange-tip nectaring on Greater Stitchwort – photo by Patrick Moore
Male on Cuckooflower – photo by John Williams
Male on Cuckooflower - photo by Dave Brown
Female on Bluebells – photo by Patrick Moore
Male at rest – photo by Trevor Rapley
Female on Garlic Mustard - photo by Dave Brown
Butterfly Conservation Orange-tip
