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Field Notes

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (m)

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (m)

Male stirring in dull conditions

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (f)

My only photo of a female. They were rare compared to the males.

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (m)

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (m)

Male feeding on the distinctive larval foodplant, Isatis tinctoria

Sicily, Italy, May 2000 (m)

Camera failure - it usually over exposes yellow.

I've only found this species at the extreme western end of its range - the northern slopes of Mt Etna on Sicily. It was common and widespread in mid May. As all Orange Tips it is a beautiful species. The rich yellow colour was lost on most of my video unfortunately. This was infact my first ever butterfly on my video camera so I hoped I could fix this problem later. I've not found the solution so if anyone has any ideas I'd be more than pleased to hear about them.

We only found a few females amongst all the bright yellow males. I suspect, as with the Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines, that the females fly much less than the males and usually not so far or as conspicuously. The larval food plant was distinctive and widespread. Its tall yellow throws being clearly visible amongst the lava flows on Mt Etna and further afield. On Mt Etna itself the constantly changing landscape caused by different lava flows produced a fascinating mosaic of habitats. The oldest flows were colonised by scrub oak woodland, existing right beside the freshest flows only showing the very first signs of plant colonisation. Every stage of sparse grass and herbs was to be found between these extremes.

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