The Caterpillar rests with its head and thorax lifted in the air, resembling a twig.

(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The pupa is suspended from a twig of the foodplant by cremaster and girdle. It has a length of about 3 cms.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The adults have a wingspan of about 6 cms. The male has forewings that are white with black edges, and has hindwings that are deep yellow.

Female
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The female has forewings that are pale yellow, with a subterminal arc of brown spots. The hindwings of the female are yellow.

normal male
(Photo: courtesy of Ross Kendall,
Butterfly Encounters, Indooroopilly, Queensland)

The wings of the male are yellow underneath, with dark spots that can have white centres.

normal female
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The female undersides are similar to those of the male, but the markings are more intense than those of the male.

pale form : hinda
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The butterflies have a pale form : hinda

eggs
(Photo: courtesy of Ross Kendall,
Butterfly Encounters, Indooroopilly, Queensland)

The eggs are pale yellow, and spindle-shaped, being taller than they are wide. They are laid singly on leaves of a foodplant.

courting couple: male on the left, female on the right.

The species occurs in New Caledonia, New Guinea, and along the middle of eastern seaboard of Australia, including

Butterflies of this species may be purchased for release at weddings etc.

male underside

female underside
(Specimens: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 294-296.

Dennis Bell,
Notes on a Yellow Migrant Catopsilia gorgophone population in Brisbane,
and
John Moss,
The confusing foodplants of the Yellow Migrant,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club Newsletter, Number 30, September 2003, pp. 4-7.

John T. Moss & Wesley Jenkinson,
A comparison of the Yellow Migrant, Catopsilia gorgophone (Boisduval, 1896) and the Orange Migrant, C. scylla (Linnaeus, 1764) [Lepidoptera,: Pieridae] with comment on evidence for natural hybridisation,
METAMORPHOSIS, Magazine of the Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club, Number 62, September 2011, pp. 4-8.

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(updated 24 September 2011)