Geographic Range
Clouded sulphurs are widespread across North America in the Nearctic region, occurring
from the Arctic south to Guatamala. The subspecies
Colias philodice vitabunda
is found only in northern British Columbia to the Alaskan tundra.
Habitat
Clouded sulphurs are best adapted to open areas such as moist meadows, lawns, and
alfalfa and clover fields.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- terrestrial
- Terrestrial Biomes
- savanna or grassland
- Other Habitat Features
- suburban
- agricultural
Physical Description
Adults are yellow, with submarginal dots on the undersides of the hindwings. There
is one silver spot in the center of the hindwing with two red rings around it, and
often there is a satellite spot. Females have a narrow black forewing border with
light spots. The subspecies
C. philodice vitabunda
has mostly white females. The average wing measurement of female clouded sulphurs
is 2.6 cm, and ranges from 2.2 cm - 3.1 cm; males range from 2.2 cm - 3.2 cm with
an average of 2.4 cm. Clouded Sulphurs may hybridize with orange sulphurs (
Colias eurydice
).
Clouded sulphur eggs are cream colored when first deposited, then turn crimson in
a day or two. The larvae are green, sometimes with pale yellow sides, with raised
points and a faint green mid-dorsal line. There is a white lateral band on the larval
body.
The pupa is green with yellowish white and black mottling and a yellow band.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- heterothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes colored or patterned differently
Development
The last larvae of the year are reported to overwinter in the third stage (sometimes
fourth). Other reports state that the clouded sulphurs overwinter as crysalis.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
Reproduction
The mating system of clouded sulphurs has been well documented. As the male flies
toward the female, she will land and the male will proceed to buffet his wings against
her body, releasing pheremones that are produced in a gland in a patch on the upper
surface of the hindwing. If the female detects the pheremone and it activates her
responses, she will lower her abdomen and the pair will mate. Females will also approach
males when they are ready to mate.
As a male clouded sulphur flies toward a female, she will land and the male will proceed
to buffet his wings against her body, releasing special communication chemicals (pheromomes)
that are produced in a gland in a patch on the upper surface of the hindwing. If
the female detects the pheremone and it activates her responses, she will lower her
abdomen and the pair will mate. Females will also approach males when they are ready
to mate.
Females that are less than one hour old cannot differentiate between the pheremones
of clouded and orange sulphurs. It is during this time that the most frequent hybridization
occurs. Usually, only sterile females are produced. When there is a female clouded
sulphur and a male orange sulphur, viable offspring are produced.
There are several broods of clouded sulphurs from spring until fall, the actual number
depending on the latitude.
Colias philodice vitabunda
flies mainly from June until mid-July.
- Key Reproductive Features
- seasonal breeding
- sexual
- fertilization
- oviparous
Butterflies do not exhibit parental care.
- Parental Investment
- no parental involvement
Lifespan/Longevity
In Colorado, clouded sulphurs lived an average of 2-3 days, with the longest surviving
2 weeks. In Colorado, females lived 17 days and males 24 days (average 2-7 days).
In Virginia, males lived for 17 days.
Behavior
The flight pattern of clouded sulphurs is fairly rapid and sometimes erratic. They
usually stay within one meter of the ground. Clouded sulphurs are well known for
their mud-puddling behavior, - gathering in groups to sip from the mud in wet places.
Most believe butterflies are seeking out salts and minerals from the water.
Home Range
Communication and Perception
Clouded sulphurs use visual cues and pheremones to communicate with each other.
- Other Communication Modes
- pheromones
Food Habits
The larval foodplants for clouded sulphurs are numerous, and most are members of the
legume family. Species include milk vetch (
Astralagus
), clovers (
Trifolium
), wild indigo (
Baptisia tinctoria
), wild pea (
Lathyrus leucanthus
), trefoil (
Lotus
), lupine (
Lupinus perinnis
), alfalfa (
Medicago
), white sweet clover (
Melilotus alba
), and vetch (
Vicia
).
Nectar plants are varied and include alfalfa (
Medicago sativa
), clovers (
Trifolium
), milkweed (
Asclepias
), self-heal (
Prunella vulgaris
), and teasel (
Dipsacus sylvestris
).
- Primary Diet
- herbivore
- Plant Foods
- leaves
- nectar
Predation
Predators of all life stages of butterflies include a variety of insect parasatoids.
These wasps or flies will consume the body fluids first, and then eat the internal
organs, ultimately killing the butterfly. Those wasps that lay eggs inside the host
body include species in many different groups:
Ichneumonidae
,
Braconidae
,
Pteromalidae
,
Chalcidoidea
,
Encyrtidae
,
Eulophidae
,
Scelionidae
,
Trichogrammatidae
, and others.
Trichogrammatids
live inside the eggs, and are smaller than a pinhead. Certain flies (
Tachinidae
, some
Sarcophagidae
, etc.) produce large eggs and glue them onto the outside of the host larva, where
the hatching fly larvae then burrow into the butterfly larvae. Other flies will lays
many small eggs directly on the larval hostplants, and these are ingested by the caterpillars
as they feed.
Most predators of butterflies are other insects.
Praying mantis
,
lacewings
,
ladybird beetles
,
assasin bugs
,
carabid beetles
,
spiders
,
ants
, and
wasps
(
Vespidae
,
Pompilidae
, and others) prey upon the larvae. Adult butterflies are eaten by
robber flies
,
ambush bugs
,
spiders
,
dragonflies
,
ants
, wasps (
Vespidae
and
Sphecidae
), and
tiger beetles
. The sundew plant is known to catch some butterflies.
There are also many vertebrate predators including
lizards
,
frogs
,
toads
,
birds
,
mice
, and other
rodents
.
Ecosystem Roles
Clouded sulphurs function as prey for a variety of species, and also serve as minor pollinators.
- Ecosystem Impact
- pollinates
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Clouded sulphurs provide aesthetic benefits to humans, and many people enjoy watching them.
- Positive Impacts
- ecotourism
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
This species is sometimes thought of as a pest species due to the larvae feeding on crop plants.
- Negative Impacts
- crop pest
Conservation Status
This species is common rangewide and receives no special protections.
Other Comments
Clouded and orange sulphurs exhibit chromosome polymorphism - genes controlling female
mate choice, male pheremones, male ultraviolet reflection (in orange sulphurs only),
orange or yellow color, width of the black forewing border size, and the rate of development
are all located on the X chromosome, termed a "supergene". It has been found that
nearly all differences between the two species occurs on this X chromosome. Female
hybrids preferably mate with males of their fathers' species (orange sulphurs), thus
the X chromosome stays with the appropriate species.
The genus
Colis
is believed to be named after Kolias, the epithet of Venus (Greek mythology). The
species may have been named after the sea nymph Phyllodoce.
Colias philodice philodice
has had several common names, including clouded sulphur, bordered yellow butterfly,
common sulphur, yellow clover butterfly, yellow sulphur, mud puddle butterfly and
yellow butterfly. The subspecies
C. philodice vitabunda
is known as the lively clouded sulphur.
Additional Links
Contributors
Matthew Wund (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Barb Barton (author), Special Contributors.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- tropical savanna and grassland
-
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
- savanna
-
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
- temperate grassland
-
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
- suburban
-
living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.
- agricultural
-
living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- internal fertilization
-
fertilization takes place within the female's body
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- pheromones
-
chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- ecotourism
-
humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- folivore
-
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
- nectarivore
-
an animal that mainly eats nectar from flowers
References
Holland, W. 1931. The Butterfly Book . Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company.
Iftner, D., J. Shuey, J. Calhoun. 1992. Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio . Ohio Biological Survey Bulletin Vol 9 No 1.
Maynard, C. 1891. Manual of North American Butterflies . Boston, MA: DeWolfe, Fiske, and Company.
Miller, J. 1992. The Common Names of North American Butterflies . Washington DC: Smithsonian Institute Press.
Nielsen, M. 1999. Michigan Butterflies and Skippers . East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Extension.
Opler, P., G. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies East of the Great Plains . Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Scott, J. 1986. The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.