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Species Zerene cesonia - Southern Dogface - Hodges#4224

Southern dogface - Zerene cesonia - male Dogface 2 - Zerene cesonia - male Southern Dogface - Zerene cesonia - female butterfly - Zerene cesonia Southern Dogface Caterpillar - Zerene cesonia Southern Dogface - Zerene cesonia Southern Dogface - Zerene cesonia GA October Dog - Zerene cesonia
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 Zerene (Dogfaces)
Species cesonia (Southern Dogface - Hodges#4224)
Hodges Number
4224
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Zerene cesonia (Stoll)
Orig. Comb: Papilio cesonia Stoll 1790
Syn: Colias cesonia (Stoll)
Explanation of Names
a 'dog's face' in each forewing
Numbers
2 spp. n. of Mex.
Size
wingspan 50-76 mm
Identification
pattern of the upper forewing resembles a yellow "dog face" bordered by black, with a black circle forming the eye
Range
resident in California, Texas, and Florida; regular migrant across southern two-thirds of United States - Map (MPG)
Habitat
open areas such as roadsides and pastures
Season
Three flights in the southern states from May-June, July-August, and September-April. Northern colonists have one generation per year, or do not reproduce at all.
Food
larvae feed on legumes (plants in the pea family) such as Alfalfa (Medicago sativa); prairie clover (Pentalostemon), Lead Plant (Amorpha canescens), False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), Soy Bean (Glycine max), Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens), Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), and clover (Trifolium) species
Life Cycle
three generations per year in the south, to none in the north (migrants only)