Species Colias philodice - Clouded Sulphur

30-50 mm Wingspan(1)

Yellow with wings marked dark brown on top; each front wing has a dark spot and each hind wing has an orange spot; wings ventrally without dark margins; black spot of front wings open; hind wing with double orange spots which are open; each wing with a submarginal row of small dark spots.(1)

The white form female philodice can often be separated from the white form female eurytheme by the HW outer margin. In philodice the HW outer margin will have a more narrow smoother solid black border, while eurytheme most often has an irregular and wider black border, many times with diffuse white markings within the black border.

Male:

Female:

All of North America except Arctic, desert, and tropical Florida.(1)

Larvae feed on alfalfa, clover, vetches, and other legumes.(1)

Colias eurytheme

Note difference in terminal black border of HW of white form females.

C. eurytheme

C. philodice

(Images from Nearctica.com)

Arnett & Jacques (1)

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Dallas Butterflies - pinned specimens show the upper wings, not usually seen on images captured in the wild.