Brimstone butterfly
Detail head of male Brimstone butterfly, looking to the left side. It is a single picture made in our garden with magnification 6 and f/14, while the butterfly was alive and kicking.
It is commonly believed that the word “butterfly” is a derived from “butter-coloured fly” which is attributed to the yellow of the male Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni), the female being a much paler whitish-green. The Brimstone has a most exquisite wing shape, perfectly matching a leaf when roosting overnight or hibernating within foliage. This is one of the few species that hibernates as an adult and, as such, spends the majority of its life as an adult butterfly. The distribution of this species closely follows that of the larval foodplant (source: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/)
