Mrs B, lift off

The first Mrs B, over a month ago, left 16 eggs and sadly only 2 have hatched into Brimstone caterpillars, they are now 2nd instar (have shed their skins once) and becoming slightly more visible.
This afternoon, to my delighted amazement, a second Mrs B visited and left 7 eggs.
She's just taken off after ovipositing on Alder Buckthorn, one of the only 2 food sources for Brimstone larvae
270521FZ1K270521

[Milanie]

You absolutely must enlarge this one - it's super!

[Jesika]

@milaniet thanks, it’s already a crop, think it might be too degraded if I crop further but I’ll play later.

[Mark Prince]

Great capture, they are really hard to photograph at rest. They never seem to stop flying. I get them in the garden every year, what is the other food species ?

[Jesika]

@markp Brimstone baby food trees are buckthorn or alder buckthorn. I was given an alder buckthorn in 2016, and it’s been visited every year so far. I have 5 larvae from the first Mrs B way back in April. It took 25 days for the eggs to hatch because of the cold weather and now I’ll be bringing the caterpillars inside for safety - and easier photography!