25. D ESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE: FAMILY Provence Orange Tip euphenoides (Staudinger, 1869)

DESCRIPTION It is also called Moroccan Orange Tip, while its common Spanish name is Bandera española [Spanish Flag], Wingspan: From 3 to 4 cm. Open wings: Male butterfl ies are yellow with big orange spots, which stretch over the greatest part of the forewings. This feature can be seen even when they are fl ying. Female butterfl ies are white, they have an apex and golden forewings, as well as a black spot in the centre of the wings. Closed wings: Both sexes’ hindwings have yellow background, covered in dark spots, and white spots on the outer margins, which are too vague to be seen on some butterfl ies. When they rest with open wings, these are orange in the case of male butterfl ies and white in the case of females.

MALE FEMALE

Black spot Golden apex

Big orange stretch Bright yellow ground colour

White spots

Extended dark spots

86 DIURNAL • GR-249 Great Malaga Path Sooty Orange Tip: It is bigger than the Provence Orange Tip. When its wings are open, it can only be confused with the Provence Orange Tip, but its forewings apex is black with an orange spot in the centre. When their wings are closed, both male and females butterfl ies have dark and whit spots. Moreover the angle at the forewings is rather prominent at the front margin. As it has already been mentioned, male Provence Orange Tips can be easily recognized while fl ying, but they can be confused with Cleopatra male butterfl ies, which are also orange and yellow, though a bit bigger and their fl ight mode is slower.

Sooty Orange Tip

BIOLOGY & HABITAT This butterfl ies fl y progressively higher from the end of winter to the end of spring. They take one generation a year to do so, though the emergence period is rather long. Sometimes an adult butterfl y can be seen in the middle of summer. They live in all kinds of forests and thicket, even around almond and olive trees or in abandoned woody crops. Their fl ight mode seems tense. They only stop to drink from fl owers. Nevertheless, they can easily be seen while resting in the morning or when it is cool and cloudy at road ditches, forest tracks and paths. You can often see them resting on their ’ food plant in Málaga, sempervirens. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

This species can be seen all along the GMP, even on the stages that go through the north of the province, although at limited places where local plants found their shelter.

Legend:

Great Malaga Path Distribution of the species along GR-249 Great Malaga Path • DIURNAL BUTTERFLIESthe GMP 87