''Colias hecla'', the northern clouded yellow or hecla sulphur, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

in the family

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Le ...

. In Europe, it is found in the northern part of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

up to heights of 900 m. It is also found in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, the Northwest Territories,

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, the Chukot region, eastern Chukotka, and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 36–46 mm. The butterfly flies in June to August depending on the location. It is found in moist tundras. The larvae feed on ''

Astragalus ''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...

'' species, including '' Astragalus frigidus'' and ''

Astragalus alpinus ''Astragalus alpinus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name alpine milkvetch. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Distribution It is ...

'' as well as ''

Trifolium repens ''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg., E.F. 1968. ''Excursio ...

''. They are also known to feed on ''

Salix arctica ''Salix arctica'', the Arctic willow, is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras. Description ''S. arctica'' is typically a low shrub growing to only in height, rarely to ...

'' where ''Astragalus'' are absent.MSc thesis, University of Helsinki, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/36981

Subspecies

*''C. h. hecla'' (Greenland) *''C. h. glacialis'' (Alaska and the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Quebec, Labrador) *''C. h. hela'' (Manitoba, Northwest Territories) *''C. h. aquilonaris'' or ''C. h. orientis'' (Chukot region, Far East) *''C. h. sulitelma'' (Scandinavia, northwestern Siberia) *''C. h. zamolodchikovi'' (East Chukotka) *''C. h. viluiensis'' Ménétries, 1859 (Transbaikal) ''C. h. sulitelma'' is sometimes treated as a separate species ''Colias sulitelma''. If that is the case, ''C. h. zamolodchikovi'' is considered a subspecies of ''Colias sulitelma'', named ''Colias sulitelma zamolodchikovi''. Furthermore, '' Colias canadensis'' is sometimes treated as a subspecies of ''Colias hecla'', named ''C. h. canadensis''.

References

External links

''Colias hecla'' von J. Fuchs
Lepidoptera of Norway

Russian Insects
State Darwin Museum
Darwin Museum

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

images of subspecies ''zamolodchikovi''. hecla Butterflies of Europe Insects of the Arctic Butterflies described in 1836 Butterflies of North America {{Pieridae-stub