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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) » Dogfaces (Zerene) » Southern Dogface - Hodges#4224 (Zerene cesonia)

Species Zerene cesonia - Southern Dogface - Hodges#4224

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References

Colias (Zerene) cesonia - Zerene cesonia

Southern Dogface - Zerene cesonia - male

Sulphur butterfly - Zerene cesonia - female

Southern Dogface caterpillar - 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)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group - MPG

Butterflies of America - BOA

Butterflies of Canada - BOC

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 14 August, 2005 - 6:49pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, Roy Cohutta
Last updated 20 October, 2022 - 6:30am

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