brimstone

Gonepteryx rhamni

• Female has pale green wings
   
• Male has lemon-yellow wings - the origin of the word ‘butter’fly
   
• Both have a small orange spot on each wing
   

Where found

Light woodland, bushy areas.

Larvae feed on buckthorn.

Found throughout the British Isles, except Scotland.
 

When to look for

• Often first butterfly to appear after winter.
   
• Hibernating specimens reappear in early spring, from late March/early April.