Sara orangetip
The Sara orangetip is a small white butterfly with bright orange tips on its front wings. It flies in late winter and spring in the far west of North America. Its caterpillars eat the flowers and seed pods of mustard plants.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its eggs are creamy white when laid and turn orange red a few hours later.
The orange wing tips also reflect ultraviolet light, which people cannot see but butterflies can.
Males fly up and down the same path along streams and roads, looking for females.
In captivity, its pupa has been seen resting for up to three years before the butterfly came out.
There are two generations each year: one from late January to April and one from May to early July.
Most asked questions about Sara orangetip
?What does the Sara orangetip eat?
The butterfly drinks nectar. The caterpillars eat buds, flowers and seed pods of mustard plants.
?When can I see the Sara orangetip?
From late January to early July. For the rest of the year it rests as a pupa.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Anthocharis sara
- Named by
- Lucas, 1852
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Pieridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pieridae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Anthocharis sara (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Walter Siegmund (talk). CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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