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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows (Pieridae) » Sulphurs and Yellows (Coliadinae) » Colias » Pink-edged Sulphur - Hodges#4220 (Colias interior)

Species Colias interior - Pink-edged Sulphur - Hodges#4220

Classification · Hodges Number · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Pink-edged Sulphur egg on a blueberry leaf - Colias interior

Pink-edged Sulphur closeup to show detail - Colias interior

Colias interior, bilateral gynandromorph - Colias interior

Pink-edged Sulphur (Colias interior) - Colias interior - male

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)

Subfamily Coliadinae (Sulphurs and Yellows)

Genus Colias

Species interior (Pink-edged Sulphur - Hodges#4220)

Hodges Number

4220

Size

Wing span: 1 1/2 - 2 5/8 inches (3.9 - 6.6 cm).(2)

Identification

Similar to other yellow Colias species; has no postmedian spots, single spot on hindwing surrounded by pink.

"Both sexes with conspicuous pink wing edges. Male yellow; female yellow or white (very rarely). Upperside of male with black border; border on female may be incomplete or only seen at tip of wing. Underside of hindwing clear yellow with single silver cell spot circled in pink." (2)

Range

Boreal forest region from BC, Oregon to Newfoundland, Virginia

Habitat

Open areas - rock outcrops, burns, clear cuts, etc.

"From British Columbia and eastern Oregon east through the Great Lakes area to northern New England. Isolated population in central Appalachians of northeast Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and northwest Virginia." (2)

Season

One flight from June-August.(2)

Food

Larvae eat blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)

Life Cycle

Males patrol with a slow flight for females. Eggs are laid in midsummer on blueberry leaves, and young caterpillars overwinter. Most feeding occurs the following spring.(2)

Print References

Brock and Kaufman, p. 62 (1)

Internet References

Butterflies of Canada

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (2)

Works Cited

1.	Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Focus Guides) Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Co.

Contributed by Joel Kits on 9 August, 2005 - 7:05pm
Additional contributions by Matthew Roth, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 21 May, 2016 - 8:29pm

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