Stats

Lifespan: Up to 1 yr
Size: Medium
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate woodland
Range: Palearctic
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

The Common Brimstone is a bright sulphur-yellow butterfly (males) of European hedgerows and woodland edges, widely thought to be the original 'butter-coloured fly' that gave all butterflies their name. Adults can live up to 13 months — one of the longest lifespans of any European butterfly — overwintering as adults hidden among ivy leaves.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
chrysalis
A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
butterfly
A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Gonepteryx
Species: Gonepteryx rhamni