Orange Sulphur
Colias eurytheme
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- A few weeks
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate grassland
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Common
About
One of the most abundant butterflies in North America, the Orange Sulphur flashes brilliant UV-reflective orange wings that males use to signal fitness to potential mates — a spectrum invisible to human eyes. Females can appear either orange or white (the "alba" form), making this one of the few butterfly species with a genetically controlled colour polymorphism.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
- 2.caterpillarA voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
- 3.chrysalisA chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
- 4.butterflyA winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Family
- Pieridae
- Genus
- Colias
- Species
- Colias eurytheme