The Sara Orangetip is a vivid western spring butterfly with males bearing brilliant orange forewing tips and green-marbled hindwing undersides. It is one of the most beautiful and anticipated harbingers of spring in California and the Pacific Northwest. Females lack the orange tips but share the same stunning green marbling below. It has a brief, one-brood flight tied to the blooming of its mustard host plants.
Habitat
Chaparral, coastal scrub, and mountain meadow edges in the West
Diet
Larvae: toothwort and other mustard family plants. Adults: nectar from spring flowers
How common
Common
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