|
Species Phoebis sennae - Cloudless Sulphur - Hodges#4228
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 Phoebis
Species sennae (Cloudless Sulphur - Hodges#4228)
Explanation of Names Author: Linnaeus
Named after Phoebe, sister of Apollo, and after Senna, its preferred host plant. Identification Adult: upperside of male wings lemon yellow or pale greenish-yellow with no markings; female forewing with small dark spot, usually a narrow blackish outer margin, and a few vague dark dots near tip. Underside of hindwing with two silver black-rimmed spots in both sexes.
Caterpillar: usually pale green and marked by a yellow stripe on each side and black spots in rows across each abdominal segment. (1) Above and below the yellow stripe there are usually small areas marked with blue.
There is also a yellow form that occurs when it feeds on yellow flowers of its host plants. The later instars of the yellow form have a dark transverse band across each segment (see image).
Range Southern United States; often migrates north in late summer/fall, sometimes reaching northern states and southern Ontario (see US distribution map). Large numbers return south in the fall.
Permanent resident in the tropics, occurring south to the tip of South America. Habitat Tropical forests and areas of regrowth with woody members of the pea family (1) (2). Disturbed open areas including parks, yards, gardens, beaches, road edges, abandoned fields, scrub. Season Adults fly throughout the year in the south; northern migrants fly late summer-fall. (1)Food Caterpillar feeds most commonly on Senna, Cassia and some other woody and herbaceous legumes (1). Some species of Cassia now in genus Senna (3)? [No; Cassia and Senna are two distinct and different genera. RM] Life Cycle Breeds continuously in the tropics; usually two generations per year in the southern United States. (1)
1. Caterpillar, early instar. 2. Caterpillar, later instar. 3. Prepupa. 4. Pupa. 5. Eclosion. 6. Adult female. 7. Adult male
See Also Usually in Texas, Florida:
Large Orange Sulphur ( Phoebis agarithe) male is bright orange above with no markings, and female is either pinkish-white or yellowish-orange above (see images)
Orange-barred Sulphur ( Phoebis philea) male is bright yellowish-orange above with reddish-orange bar on forewing, and reddish-orange outer margin on hindwing; female is either off-white or pale yellowish-orange above with submarginal row of broken dark smudges (see images) Print References Scott, #50, p. 204, color plate 12, fig. 52--chrysalis (2)
Allen et al., pp. 44-45, photo of caterpillar (3)
Glassberg, p. 58, plate 11 (4)
Brock and Kaufman, pp. 74-75, photos of adult, larva (5)Internet References Georgia Lepidoptera (live images of all life stages)
Works Cited | 4. | Butterflies Through Binoculars: The East
Jeffrey Glassberg. 1999. Oxford University Press. |  |
| 5. | Butterflies of North America (Kaufman Focus Guides)
Jim P. Brock, Kenn Kaufman. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Co. |  |
|
|
|
|
