Tipping

There's always a bit of a contretemps when MrQ says he is going to do some cutting. He's eighty-nine and very unsteady on his feet but he can still just about drive his Kubota tractor fitted with a flail. He likes to operate a sort of scorched earth policy but I like to keep long grass and 'weeds' for wildlife. Yesterday I managed to persuade him to spare a stand of cow parsley and was delighted this morning when I found a pair of orange tip butterflies flitting about amongst the flower buds. (I've added an image of the male approaching to extras.)

The male homed in on the female and she curled her abdomen up and opened her genital valve. It is thought that females who have already mated release anti-aphrodisiac hormones to deter other males. He soon flew off. Virgin females exhibit the same behaviour but they release aphrodisiac hormones to attract males. The female will lay only one egg on each host plant she visits as orange tip caterpillars are cannibalistic.