This pretty butterfly is one of the earliest on the wing and is easy to spot, with orange tips on white wings. It frequents damp habitats and feeds on nectar from a variety of wildflowers including Dandelion, Bluebell and Ragged Robin. It lays its eggs on Cuckoo flower and other wild members of the cabbage family, and on Rocket and Honesty in gardens.
As with so many butterflies, the greater the variety of wildflowers you can provide in your garden the better, both as food plants for the caterpillars and to provide nectar for the adult butterflies.
A beautiful new booklet ‘Butterflies of County Galway’ is available from biodiversity@galwaycoco.ie.
Photo courtesy of Kay Synott Living Gardens.