Brimstone, resembling a leaf in wing-shape and venation White butterflies seem plentiful this summer. I've neglected them in favour of butterflies more striking and less familiar. Seeing a flutter of white wings over The Ghyll buddleia passers-by name them Cabbage whites and go their way. Rose hips and blackberries are ripening, buddleia flowers are fading, it's 26 degrees by mid-afternoon and butterflies keep coming. Mostly whites, but which whites?
On a short-cut by the buddleia track I glimpse a pale butterfly and stop in my tracks. It's the first brimstone I've seen on these flowers whose butterflies I've been studying.
On a short-cut by the buddleia track I glimpse a pale butterfly and stop in my tracks. It's the first brimstone I've seen on these flowers whose butterflies I've been studying.
Whites have often been first to show, and always most abundant. So I've photographed them whilst hoping comma or painted ladies would return. Today is all about brimstone. Possibly there have been others here in a melee of whites in recent weeks, and I've missed them as sunlight zaps their colour.
Cabbage whites. As a child I don't remember anyone distinguishing between whites. Bright nasturtiums swarmed with caterpillars, the food-plant of Cabbage whites and gardeners tried to save cabbages and brassica from being eaten.
So, here are whites various and I set myself an ID challenge. Large white, Small white, Green-veined white.
Ars longa, vita brevis- life is short and field-craft long to learn. There's a lifetime study in getting to know butterflies, flowers, and their inter-action- the nectar sources butterflies choose and the food-plants their caterpillars require. And how to recognise them from the merest glimpse or bleached of colour in strong sunlight, or uncoloured in deep shadow.
Cabbage whites. As a child I don't remember anyone distinguishing between whites. Bright nasturtiums swarmed with caterpillars, the food-plant of Cabbage whites and gardeners tried to save cabbages and brassica from being eaten.
So, here are whites various and I set myself an ID challenge. Large white, Small white, Green-veined white.
Ars longa, vita brevis- life is short and field-craft long to learn. There's a lifetime study in getting to know butterflies, flowers, and their inter-action- the nectar sources butterflies choose and the food-plants their caterpillars require. And how to recognise them from the merest glimpse or bleached of colour in strong sunlight, or uncoloured in deep shadow.
Here's my challenge. Images and a reminder of white data.
Large white, Pieris brassicae
A large, strong-flying butterfly. The Cabbage white as its name suggests. Familiar in gardens and allotments where the food plant of their caterpillars ranges from cabbages and brussel sprous to nasturtiums. Black tips to the forewings and females have two large black spots on the forewings. Underwings are creamy coloured with veins that make them resemble a leaf. ( not unlike brimstone)
Small white, Pieris rapae
White wings with black tips to forewings and 1-2 spots. Underwings creamy white.
Caterpillar food-plants cabbages and nasturtiums, garlinc mustard. etc. Cabbage whites seem to be butterflies whose caterpillars feed on cabbages!! Not a single species of butterfly. And all three of these named whites have creamy underwings.
Green-veined whtie, Pieris napi
Caterpillar food-plants are garlic mustard ( it used to grow abundantly in The Ghyll where I photographed the butterfly. And cuckoo flower which grew there too, until Story Homes 'Tidied' it to oblivion. Favours ditches ( the underground watercourse for which The Ghyll is named flows here), woodland rides, pastures and gardens.
Green-veined white has greenish veins on the hind-wing. Upper wings have one or more spots.
One ID challenge, using photographs, is that butterflies don't always pose with wing-pattern visible.
Large white, Pieris brassicae
A large, strong-flying butterfly. The Cabbage white as its name suggests. Familiar in gardens and allotments where the food plant of their caterpillars ranges from cabbages and brussel sprous to nasturtiums. Black tips to the forewings and females have two large black spots on the forewings. Underwings are creamy coloured with veins that make them resemble a leaf. ( not unlike brimstone)
Small white, Pieris rapae
White wings with black tips to forewings and 1-2 spots. Underwings creamy white.
Caterpillar food-plants cabbages and nasturtiums, garlinc mustard. etc. Cabbage whites seem to be butterflies whose caterpillars feed on cabbages!! Not a single species of butterfly. And all three of these named whites have creamy underwings.
Green-veined whtie, Pieris napi
Caterpillar food-plants are garlic mustard ( it used to grow abundantly in The Ghyll where I photographed the butterfly. And cuckoo flower which grew there too, until Story Homes 'Tidied' it to oblivion. Favours ditches ( the underground watercourse for which The Ghyll is named flows here), woodland rides, pastures and gardens.
Green-veined white has greenish veins on the hind-wing. Upper wings have one or more spots.
One ID challenge, using photographs, is that butterflies don't always pose with wing-pattern visible.
16 August 2025 Sizergh vegetable gardens
On a sunny morning at Sizergh castle gardens apples and pears are looking good. But cabbages have been munched by caterpillars, leaves holed and shredded. Caterpillars shown are of the Large white, Pieris brassicae. Wire mesh has been put up to help keep off egg-laying Cabbage whites. And there's a caterpillar on the wire, beside a cocoon of yellowish eggs. Chris Winnick, chair of Butterfly Conservation Cumbria, confirms these are eggs of the parasitic wasp which consumes the Large white caterpillar from the inside, leaving its vital organs until last so their food-source lasts longer!!
Finding caterpillars in our gardens and allotments, putting them in jam-jars and watching them pupate was something children often did. Seeing visitors at Sizergh intrigued by caterpillars suggests fewer people now grow their own brassicae.
On a sunny morning at Sizergh castle gardens apples and pears are looking good. But cabbages have been munched by caterpillars, leaves holed and shredded. Caterpillars shown are of the Large white, Pieris brassicae. Wire mesh has been put up to help keep off egg-laying Cabbage whites. And there's a caterpillar on the wire, beside a cocoon of yellowish eggs. Chris Winnick, chair of Butterfly Conservation Cumbria, confirms these are eggs of the parasitic wasp which consumes the Large white caterpillar from the inside, leaving its vital organs until last so their food-source lasts longer!!
Finding caterpillars in our gardens and allotments, putting them in jam-jars and watching them pupate was something children often did. Seeing visitors at Sizergh intrigued by caterpillars suggests fewer people now grow their own brassicae.
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