Bug FAQOrange-tip
Anthocharis cardamines · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Also called: Orange Tip Butterfly
The orange-tip butterfly gets its name from the bright orange tips on the male's forewings. Males are smaller when raised on cow-parsley (C. pratensis) and larger on garlic-mustard (A. petiolata). They are common in spring, flying along forest edges, hedgerows and damp meadows.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males have bright orange tips on their forewings, while the underside of the wings is mottled green and white for camouflage on flowerheads.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Male size varies with host plant: smaller on C. pratensis and larger on A. petiolata.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Males stay in forest edges and clearings for their whole lives. Females spend most of their lives in open meadows and dry hillocks.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Females lay eggs on young crucifer inflorescences and feed on those flowers as well as other flowers in their habitat.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
After five larval stages, the fully grown larva leaves the host plant and pupates on low vegetation. The pupa is hard to locate because it is hidden among lower vegetation.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Males are a common sight in spring, searching for the more reclusive females. Climate change has caused the first spring appearance to shift earlier by about 17 days.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is found throughout Europe and the Palearctic region extending to China.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Females lack the orange wing tips and can be mistaken for other butterfly species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 3 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Idaho, Washington.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Why do male orange-tips have different sizes?
Their size depends on the host plant they develop on; cow-parsley produces smaller males and garlic-mustard produces larger ones.
Source: Wikipedia
When can I expect to see orange-tip butterflies?
They are most visible in spring, with males flying along hedgerows and damp meadows.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell a female orange-tip from other butterflies?
Females do not have the bright orange wing tips that males do, which often leads to confusion with other species.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocharis_cardamines
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.