Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Anthocharis cardamines / Orange Tip
Flutura Aurorë
Pieridae - Pierinae

Anthocharis cardamines (Linnaeus, 1758) TL: Sweden.

1a. Anthocharis cardamines, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Anthocharis cardamines courtship. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Anthocharis cardamines ♂ upperside. Guri i Qytetut Burimi i Ujit te Ftohte, Albania (© Lulëzim Shuka)
1d. Anthocharis cardamines ♀ upperside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Anthocharis cardamines ♂ underside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Anthocharis cardamines ♀ underside. Romania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Anthocharis cardamines ♂ caught by a spider. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1g. Anthocharis cardamines copula. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1i. Anthocharis cardamines egg. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1ij Anthocharis cardamines young caterpillar. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 19-24 mm.
Ups: white gc.
Upf: small black spot in orange apical area, apex and marginal border grey.
Unf: yellow-green markings on apex.
Unh: yellow-green widespread markings.
♀♀
Similar wingspan to slightly larger.
Upf: no orange apical apical patch, larger black spot.
Unf: less marked apex.

Similar species

Anthocharis damone Size: slightly smaller or similar size. Upf: proximal black dusted orange tip. Uph: ♂ bright yellow gc, ♀ pale yellowish gc. Unf: black discal spot not reaching costa. Unh: yellow gc. Anthocharis gruneri Size: smaller. Upf: proximal, dusted orange tip + costa. Uph: ♂ pale yellowish gc, ♀ white gc. Unf: ♀ bigger discal spot reaching the costa. Unh: greenish gc. Unh: regular white spots.

Euchloe ausonia Upf: dicontinuous white sm markings, 1 large. Upf: full black discal spot. Upf + unf: straight outer margin. Unf: black discoidal spot near costa. Unh: contrasting olive green gc. Unh: white, round marginal markings. Pontia edusa Upf: continuous small white sm markings. Upf: white line in discal spot. Upf + unf: rounded outer margin. Unf: black discoidal spot reaching the costa. Unh: pale olive green gc. Unh: elongated white marginal markings.

Life cycle
Adults: single generation from March to July (at higher altitude)
Egg: 3-10 days.
Caterpillar: 11-34 days, feeding on young pods, able to feed on leaves when nearly full-grown.
Pupa: overwintering, long pupal stage (46-49 weeks)

Habitat
Anthocharis cardamines inhabits a large variety of flowery meadows from sea-level to 1900 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirment moderate, population density can be high, nomadic.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Cardamine sp., Alliaria petiolata, and Arabis sp., also mentioned are Arabidopsis sp.,Barbarea sp., Biscutella sp., Brassica rapa, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Diplotaxis erucoides, Draba sp., Erucastrum nasturtiifolium, Hesperis sp., Hirschfeldia incana, Isatis tinctoria, Lepidium sp., Lunaria sp., Nasturtium officinale, Noccaea sp.,Rorippa sp., Sinapis sp., Sisymbrium sp., Thlaspi arvense, Turritis sp. and Tropaeolum majus.
Butterflies feed mostly on the Brassicaceae food plants.

Distribution
Albania: widespread.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU
Asia Minor, Near East, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Anthocharis cardamines is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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