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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

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Family Pieridae - Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows

Orange Sulphur - Colias eurytheme - female Sulphur caterpillar - Colias winter form - Pontia protodice - male Caterpillar - Ascia monuste Orange Tip - Anthocharis julia Tailed Orange (Winter Form) - Pyrisitia proterpia Cloudless Sulphur - Phoebis sennae Sulphur
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)
Family Pieridae (Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows)
Other Common Names
Pierids
Numbers
~60 spp. in 16 genera in our area, ~1,100 spp. in ~80 genera total
Identification
Adults, medium to small wings white, yellow, or orange, with some black or red; many have hidden ultraviolet patterns used in courtship.
Food
larval hosts are mostly Brassicaceae; for most Sulphurs, Fabaceae
Life Cycle
There may be more than one generation per year. Females lay columnar eggs on leaves, buds or stems. Usually overwinter as larvae or pupae.