Madeiran Cleopatra - Gonepteryx maderensis

Phylum: Arthropoda - Class: Insecta - Order: Lepidoptera - Family: Pieridae

The Madeiran Cleopatra butterfly is one the most beautiful of the Pieridae 'whites'.

The male Madeiran Cleopatra shown above and the male, seen below, were photographed in Madeira during springtime. The forewings of the male are suffused with orange on the upper surface, and the orange colouring shows through to an extent on the underwing.

The raised veins on the undersides of this and other Gonepteryx species give them the appearance of a leaf when they are at rest. (The wings are invariably closed when the butterfly is at rest.) These fairly large and impressive butterflies have a wingspan ranging from 5 to 7cm. The males are on average a bit smaller than the females, and both sexes have a discoidal spot that is orange seen from above but much browner in the underwing view. The shortly-hairy caterpillars are lemon green with small black dots.

Distribution

Not breeding in Britain, Gonepteryx maderensis is endemic to the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Habitat

This rare butterfly inhabits the humid laurel forests at an altitude of 500 to 1500 metres above sea level.

Lifecycle

Generally having just a single brood, the newly-emerged adults can be seen from May through until August or September, when they hibernate until the following March.

As with other Gonepteryx species, the larval foodplants are buckthorns, Rhamnus species.

Acknowledgements

This page includes pictures kindly contributed by Rob Petley-Jones.

Studying butterflies and moths...