The NatureSpot Photo of the Month for April is this image of an Orange-tip Butterfly, taken by NatureSpot contributor Ron. More...

The weather in April 2024 has been mixed at best but on the first sunny days Orange-tip Butterflies, Anthocharis cardamines, emerged en masse. Unusually for butterflies the Orange-tip is distinctively sexually dimorphic - males and females look different. However, when they need to take a breather, neither white nor fluorescent orange is a good way of avoiding hungry birds which abound in April. For this reason, both sexes have developed highly effective camouflage which means when they settle and fold their wings they can be remarkably difficult to see. Ron's photo shows this nicely. Hopefully the weather in May will mean lots more butterflies. 

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