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This spring the first generation of orange tip butterflies hatched after passing the winter as pupae. Researchers have discovered that if the spring is inclement the pupae can delay hatching for a year – an amazing feat for conserving the species.

 

It is a rather small butterfly and the sexes are easy to distinguish. The tips of the male butterfly’s forewings are orange-coloured – hence the name in Estonian, koiduliblikas, the dawn butterfly, alluding to a romantic sunrise. The female lacks the sunrise spots, the forewing tips are just grey-coloured. Typiocal for the underside of the wing is a green-grey marble pattern, but the male has it only on the underside of the hind wings. The males hide their conspicuous colouring well in the rest position. The orange forewings go behind the white hind wings and the marble pattern is an excellent camouflage in nature. The antennae are grey with white tips. The head and breast of the male are covered with yellowish-grey little hairs, the hairs of the female are dark grey.