Like the West Virginia White I saw the other day, this little white butterfly also spent today visiting the many toothwort flowers that are in bloom throughout the woods right now. This is a Falcate Orangetip, a small spring butterfly named for the falcate tip of the forewing. The males have a bright patch of orange in the wingtip area, and this female is white there with just a hint of yellow and marbled markings on the hindwing. The larval foodplant of these butterflies is rock cress and other plants in the mustard family. Click on the photo to enlarge and see more of the details in the wing markings and the fuzzy purple body of this butterfly.
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Falcate Orangetip (anthocharis midea)
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The wing markings are amazing!
Hi Louise, their markings are very detailed aren’t they? I noticed more detail in the photos than I did when I saw the butterfly — they are very small.
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