Gonepteryx rhamni, commonly named the common brimstone, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It lives throughout the Palearctic zone and is commonly found across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Across much of its range, it is the only species of its genus, and is therefore simply known locally as the brimstone. Its wing span size is 60–74 mm (2.4–2.9 in). It should not be confused with the brimstone moth Opisthograptis luteolata.
Image: Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) male in flight
Image: Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) male
The common buckthorn, one of the larval host plants.
Mating pair (left: male; right: female)
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran suborder Rhopalocera, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea and Papilionoidea. The oldest butterfly fossils have been dated to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago, though they likely originated in the Late Cretaceous, about 101 million years ago.
Butterfly
Possibly the original butter-fly. A male brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) in flight.
A zoomed in view of the wing scales on a Aglais io, or peacock butterfly.
Unlike butterflies, most moths (like Laothoe populi) fly by night and hide by day.
