Volume 10, Plate V / Entomology (Insects)

Brimstone & Clouded Yellow Butterflies

Gonepteryx Rhamni & Colias Edusa

1. & 2. Brimstone Butterfly. Placed in a distinct genus for its large angular wings, the male is entirely bright sulphur-yellow and the female greenish-white, each wing bearing a small orange central spot. Its elongated green caterpillar feeds on buckthorn and alder, and the butterfly, often surviving the winter, is among the earliest heralds of spring, sometimes on the wing before the middle of February.
3. Clouded Yellow Butterfly. The male is pale orange above with a wide black border and a rounded central spot on each wing, the female marked with yellow spots in her dark border. Its deep green caterpillar feeds on leguminous herbs, and the butterfly, fond of the seaside, abounds along the south-east coast in some years yet is scarcely seen in others.