Picky Caterpillars

The Brimstone butterfly has only one host plant: the Alder Buckthorn. Female Brimstones can smell these small trees from several kilometres away. Here she lays her eggs, and the pale green caterpillars feed exclusively on Alder Buckthorn leaves for about a month before transforming into chrysalises. If you'd like to help the Brimstone butterfly, plant an Alder Buckthorn, also known as the "butterfly tree", in your garden.