We’ve been sent this photo by one of our members. There is a Brimstone chrysalis in the picture: can you see it?  In case you are scratching your head, we’ve put a version of the picture below, with a yellow line around the chrysalis. The white straight line indicates the silken thread which holds the chrysalis to the bottom of the leaf.

Brimstone chrysalis. Photo: Martin Raper

Martin Raper grows a Buckthorn bush as part of the back hedge in his not-huge garden, specifically for Brimstone caterpillars to eat. It is quite a small bush hidden among other bushes, but the butterfly still finds it each year: the females can sense buckthorns from a considerable distance.

It is less usual for the caterpillar to stay on the bush to form a chrysalis: they are more usually said to leave the bush and find somewhere else.

Our thanks to Martin for sending in the photo.