Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anthocharis sara Lucas, 1852
Anthocharis sara gunderi (Ingham, 1933)
Anthocharis sara pseudothoosa (Austin, 1998)
Anthocharis sara sara (Lucas, 1852)
Anthocharis sara sempervirens (Emmel, Emmel & Mattoon, 2008)
Explanation of Names
The Anthocharis sara complex was revised in Stout (2018)
(1). Three species and fifteen subspecies are now recognized as follow:
A. s. gunderi (Ingham, 1933)
A. s. sempervirens (Emmel, Emmel & Mattoon, 2008)
A. j. browningi (Skinner, 1906)
A. j. flora (Wright, 1892)
A. j. julia (Edwards, 1872)
A. j. prestonorum (Stout, 2012)
A. j. stella (Edwards, 1879)
A. j. sulfuris (Pelham, 2008)
•
Anthocharis thoosa (Scudder, 1878)
A. t. colorado (Scott & Fisher, 2008)
A. t. corcorani (Gunder, 1931)
A. t. inghami (Gunder, 1932)
A. t. thoosa (Scudder, 1878)
Identification
Where found in the same areas as 'Desert Orangetip' (Anthocharis cethura), that species has prominent pale (usually white) spots along the margin of the upper front wing, clearly dividing the dark border from the edge of the wing, while in A. sara such spots are narrow (i.e. in many females) or barely evident at all, and the dark border right along the edge. On the under side A. cethura has the greenish marbling on the hind wing merged onto relatively broad well-defined bands, while in A. sara the marbling is finer and more evenly spread across the wing (and in the area where the species are together, usually less greenish). In A. cethura the males in commonly decidedly yellowish, and always so in many populations; while in A. sara, yellow males are rare.
Habitat
Varied, mostly found in areas of broken terrain, often in canyons, open woodlands, and riparian areas.
Season
Late winter through sping, with timing depending primarily on elevation and latitude. One brood in most regions, but sometimes apparently with two flights near southern Pacific coast (probably not two broods, but more likely with some emerging early and others delayed; perhaps depending on rains and temperatures?).
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on mustard family (Brassicaceae), esp. Tower Mustard, Arabis glabra.
Internet References
Photos and information on
A. sara and subspecies at
Butterflies of America.
