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What are the differences between the brimstone and canary butterfles, especially the female?!

Alex

I'm not quite sure if I've understood the question, but the brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) doesn't fly in the Canaries. Various forms of what used to be called the Cleopatra (G. cleopatra, closely related to the brimstone) do fly there, and don't fly anywhere else. These are now often distributed among varying numbers of different species (depending on the author), like G. cleobule and G. palmae.

To put it another way, the different Canary islands have very sedentary and genetically distinct forms of 'brimstone', which are best identified by postcode, using the latest taxonomic advice!

Guy