Clouded Sulphur Butterfly

by Elizabeth Winter

Title

Clouded Sulphur Butterfly

Artist

Elizabeth Winter

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Clouded Sulphur is one of our most common butterflies. They are most often see flying low over lawns and fields. They are a medium-sized butterfly, with a wingspan of up to two inches wide. Males and females are slightly different. Males are yellow with a sharp black border on the wings. Females are a duller yellow with yellow spots inside the black border. Both sexes have single black spots on the forewings, and dull orange spots on the hindwings. Underneath, there is no black border, but there is a silver spot, outlined in pink, on each hind wing. You can see this when the butterfly is resting with its wings folded.

Clouded Sulphurs can be seen from March to September. There are several broods (batches) each year.

After mating, female sulphurs lay eggs, one at a time, on leaves of host plants. Host plants are food for caterpillars. Some host plants of Clouded Sulphurs include clovers and Black Locust. When the caterpillars (larvae) hatch, they begin eating the plants right away.

Clouded Sulphur caterpillars are bright green with a dark back stripe and two light side stripes. When the caterpillars are fully grown, they form a chrysalis (pupa, or resting, stage). The adult butterfly comes out of the pupa.

Any chrysalids that are around when the weather gets cold will overwinter, and the butterflies will emerge in early Spring.

Uploaded

August 22nd, 2016

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