Victoria Advocate - Ro Wauer - Naturally Speaking(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-24)
The Henry's elfin butterfly, left, and the falcateorangetip, are two species that fly in the area in early spring.
The upperside of this miniature white is all white except for orange wingtips on males and a central fl dot on females; females lack the orange wingtips.
Orangetip females, however, lay a single egg on each hostplant; they are able to detect an egg already laid on the host.
The FalcateOrangetip is a rare stray to Wisconsin.
This species is more of a southern species that apparently will stray, but is seldom seen this far north.
Similar species: The Olympia Marble looks similar underneath with green marbling, but the marbling on the FalcateOrangetip is much finer and more detailed.
Wildlife Photography - Species Profile(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-24)
John Tveten, a Houston naturalist and a leading expert on butterflies, explains that the falcateorangetip lays its eggs on the white flowers of the spring cress that blooms in February.
Nearby was a cluster of spring cress, the white flowers hosting 20 falcateorangetips.
We saw a female falcateorangetip land on a sprig of grass, spread her wings, and raise her abdomen to signal to a male her readiness to mate.
Brief Spring Visitor: the Falcate Orangetip(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-24)
When you're out walking in the sunshine this spring, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to see some FalcateOrangetips (Anthocharis midea).
These little butterflies fly for a very short period in the early spring, usually from mid April to mid May in our area, and are not seen again until the following year.
This article by club member Mark Etheridge was published in the Winter 1994 issue of Potowmack News, published by the Potowmack Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society, and in the March, 1995 Butterfly Society of Virginia newsletter.
Catawba College’s ecological preserve has a way of capturing students’attention.
It’s where they study the reclusive mole salamander or train their binoculars on the cavity-dwelling prothonotary warbler or watch the erratic flight of the Falcateorangetipbutterfly.
The students’ current fascination is with a pair of beavers that have built a sevenfoot-tall lodge on the southern part of Lake Baranski.
The most spectacular sight of the walk was a steep rocky slope sprinkled with hundreds, if not thousands, of the powder-blue blossoms of Hepatica americana.
The pleasant weather was perfect for wildflower watching, but despite the warmth we saw very few butterflies--no FalcateOrangetips or Spring Azures, the usual companions of the early spring wildflowers.
