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Photo#424562
sulpher butterfly - Zerene cesonia - male

sulpher butterfly - Zerene cesonia - Male
on the bluff north of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA
July 10, 2010
Size: 1 1/2 inches maybe
I believe this is some kind of sulpher butterfly, but I'm not sure. Many thanks for clarifying what it is.....Denise

No - it is definitely a male Southern Dogface
Zerene cesonia

Both species occur in southern California. Near the coast they are documented from S.L.O. County southward. Inland they are recorded north to Mariposa and Mono Counties, and might be expected anywhere along the east border of the state.

Moved from California Dogface.

Moved
Moved from Southern Dogface.

Moved

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

A note of clarification
Some call it Colias (with Zerene as a subgenus or synonym of Colias), but most these days call it a distinct genus - Zerene. So, both are correct, depending on who you talk to.

Photo#424562
In the Kaufman Butterflies Guide page 69, this matches the Southern Dogface (Colias cesonia)

 
???
You mean Zerene not Colias (as I first thought) and looking at Zerene I agree with Southern Dogface

 
genus
just as a note, the genus is Zerene here on BugGuide.

Southern Dogface
Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia)

 
ID
Surely this is a California Dogface, not a Southern Dogface

It is a sulphur
Though not an expert, I'm confident in getting you as far as Genus. i believe this is one of the Colias. Wait for an expert opinion, but I'm thinking Orange Sulphur or maybe Clouded.