Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758))

Scientific name: Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name: Brimstone
French name: Citron
Order: Lepidoptera
Suborder: Rhopalocera
Family: Pieridae
Subfamily: Coliadinae
Wingspan: 52-60 mm
Biotope: Woodlands, gardens and road sides.
Geographic area: Europe except northern Scandinavia and Scotland.
Flight time: July to September (the butterflies which over winter go out in April to mate and lay their eggs).
Number of generations : 1
Caterpillar: Dark green with a white line on the sides and a thin tail.
Host plant: Buckthorn (Rhamnus)

You can identify the Brimstone with its bright yellow colour and the typical points of its fore wings and hindwings.
The colour of the female is rather pale green.
It over winters as an adult butterfly and flies back again in at the first sunny days of the spring.
In Europe, any yellow butterfly seen at the very beginning of spring is certainly a brimstone.
This is one of the few butterflies that over winters as an imago, hidden in the vegetation like ivy.

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - Yvelines, France - July 14th 2005

[To know more about the Brimstone] [Next picture] [Top]