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Clouded Sulphur - Hodges#4209 (Colias philodice)
Photo#58652
Copyright © 2006
Jim Farrell
Butterfly help? -
Colias philodice
Gillett, Wisconsin, USA
July 1, 2005
A little yellow butterfly....We have tons of them around the flower garden
Images of this individual:
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Contributed by
Jim Farrell
on 19 June, 2006 - 12:41pm
Last updated 23 June, 2006 - 9:36pm
How about
a
Pink-edged Sulphur?
I'm envious as we don't see them in southern Ohio.
…
Steve Pelikan
, 19 June, 2006 - 1:23pm
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I think it's Clouded
Colias philodice. Note the 2 white dots in the hindwing.
…
Cliff Bernzweig
, 19 June, 2006 - 6:01pm
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Could be...
Most Clouded Suplhpurs I see around here have a row of brown spots around the hind wing's underside like
and
. The Colias eurytheme we have around here also have these dots --- or almost all of them.
Are the 2 (as opposed to 1?) white dots significant? I'd always thought of the details of these dot(s) to be too variable to be useful?
Any info would be appreciated!
…
Steve Pelikan
, 19 June, 2006 - 6:52pm
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More on this...
Here's what I gleaned from "BTB East" by Glassberg. He writes that the Pink-edged Sulphur "is distinguished from Clouded Sulphur by the single HW central spot (Clouded Sulphur has a doubled HW central spot) and by the more prominent pink wing edgings (although Clouded Sulphur can have a significant amount of pink)." As an additional cue, he mentions that "Clouded Sulphurs almost always have postmedian spots (sometimes faint) on the HW below." Seems like he intends to establish the HW spot as the key field mark, but I did notice he didn't use the phrases "always has" or "never has," which he often does in his books to point something out which he is extra-sure about. It does seem, though, as if he thinks the brown postmedian spots are more variable than the central hindwing spots. Of course, Glassberg is just one man.
Actually, what I should have said before is "according to Glassberg, it's probably a Clouded."
…
Cliff Bernzweig
, 19 June, 2006 - 9:53pm
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Thanks! Cliff...
Now I'm really confused! Not that I mind that 'cause its how I learn stuff....
Do the two thumbnails above have the single central hindwing spots? Or am I misunderstanding the character you're describing?
James Scott says of C. philodice "the unh has brownish submarginal dots and a silver spot in the center with two red rings around it and usually a satellite spot". While for C. interior he gives "Identified by the conspicuous pick fringes but uniformly yellow unh (with very few dark scales) and by the red ring around the unh central spot (which rarely has a satellite spot)..."
So if I'm understanding the characters correctly, the double satellite spot speaks for C. philodice while the lack of submarginal spots and light unh speak for C. interior.
I don't know pink-edged's well enough to know if the pink fringes are reasonable for that species. They are certainly at the edge of believable for C. p. in southern Ohio.
So I conclude I don't know what we're looking at! What fun.
…
Steve Pelikan
, 19 June, 2006 - 11:19pm
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My money is on Clouded Sulphur, too.
Butterflies of Wisconsin
calls it very similar to Pink-edged Sulphur, but with faint submarginal spots, and more than one central spot - both of which this has. The submarginal spots are much more obvious on the second image Jim posted.
…
Hannah Nendick-Mason
, 20 June, 2006 - 8:04am
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Thank you both...
Now I'm happy with Clouded too, especially as the second picture shows the band of brown spots!
In further reading I find that Thomas Allen (Butterlies of West Virginia) mentions the "satellite spot" character as well, but seems to insist on the submarginal spots for Clouded.
So an extra thing I've learned is I should try to get/see as many pictures and angles as possible. I wouldn't have thought that the spots so visible in the 2nd picture could disappear in the first!
…
Steve Pelikan
, 20 June, 2006 - 9:21am
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