Most years, Southwestern orangetips show up in the Sandia foothills during the latter half of March.1 That wasn’t the case this year; the only orangetips I saw in March were in the foothills of the Organ Mountains, more than 200 miles south of the Sandias.
Orangetips, like many butterflies, are exquisitely sensitive to vibrations in the ground — at least when they actually stop flying, which isn’t often. Both characteristics make it rather difficult to get decent photos. One of the few times they stop for more than a second or two is when they sip nectar from tiny rockcress flowers.2
Another time they slow down is when they’re involved in what I believe is a mating ritual. I’ve seen this behavior a number of times: The female sits still on the ground with her body tipped up, while the male zooms over and around her.3 Females are distinguished from males by the light strip between the orange on their wings and their actual wingtips. In addition, females’ wings are sometimes a pale yellow, as below.
The photo above shows the male’s backlit underwings, whereas the photo immediately above that shows a male’s backlit overwings. In contrast, the photo below not only presents a clear view of both overwings and underwings, but also offers a fair amount of detail in those tiny rockcress flowers.
I was coming down a trail on the east side of the Sandias yesterday when I looked down and saw an orangetip nectaring on a Canadian violet. That is a shot I truly would have loved to have gotten — but the butterfly was gone before I’d ever even touched my camera.
I’ve always known these butterflies as Sara orangetips. However, critter and species names are constantly changing — sometimes in response to DNA analysis — and these butterflies are now called Southwestern orangetips.
Rockcress flowers are incredibly small, so miniscule that I’ve only ever actually seen them through a telephoto lens.
I have yet to see orangetips actually mate.
Excellent shots! Thanks Lisa!
That's amazing you got those photos. Some biology teacher should use them!