''Colias lesbia'' is a species of

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 ...

. It is found in the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeo ...

Description

Specimens from south Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina differ so little that they cannot be separated. This form is in the male dark orange yellow, specimens with violet reflections are not rare; the black-brown distal margin is not sharply defined proximally. The under surface with the exception of the reddish middle of the forewing is vivid yellow with the usual ''Colias'' marking. The ground colour of the upper surface in the females is very variable: orange yellow, yellow, yellowish or white with grey dusting; greenish-grey specimens also occur.

Biology

Flies from November to January.

Taxonomy

It was accepted as a species by Josef Grieshuber and Gerardo Lamas.

Subspecies

*''C. l. lesbia'' (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay) *''C. l. andina'' Staudinger, 1894 (Bolivia) from 3000–4000 metres asl, sprinkled with blackish *''C. l. dinora'' Kirby, 1881 (Ecuador, Colombia) 4000 —5,500 metres asl orange-yellow, with washed-out, moderately broad dark distal margin to the forewing; the hindwing has a submarginal row of small, dark, inconspicuous spots. The under surface on the forewing is somewhat lighter, on the hindwing somewhat darker than the upper, the median spot is white, small and margined with reddish. The female has lemon-yellow ground colour and yellow spots in the dark distal margin of the forewing. *''C. l. mineira'' Zikán, 1940 (Brazil (Minas Gerais)) *''C. l. vauthierii'' Guérin-Méneville,

830 __NOTOC__ Year 830 ( DCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Britain * King Wiglaf of Mercia regains control from Wessex, and returns to the throne.S ...

/small> (Chile, Argentina) is in the male above orange red with broad black-brown margin and median spot of the same colour on the forewing, the black-brown margin of the hindwing is much narrower and is suddenly reduced towards the inner angle; the hindwing has a smaller, indistinct dark median spot. The under surface of the forewing is orange red, at the margins and particularly at the apex yellowish, and has a black median spot and a submarginal row of black spots, which are larger posteriorly. The under surface of the hindwing is yellow, slightly orange in the middle, the reddish median spot has a light centre, a reddish diffuse spot is placed at the base of the wing and in addition there is a row of small reddish submarginal spots; the inner margin is greenish. The female has above yellowish white ground colour, broader dark distal margins on both wings and light submarginal spots. The ground colour of the underside of the forewing is impure white, of the hindwing yellowish. *''C. l. verhulsti'' Berger, 1983 (Peru)

References

External links

Butterflies of America
Photographs of Fabricius

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

and types of subspecies. {{Authority control Butterflies described in 1775

lesbia Lesbia was the literary pseudonym used by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus ( 82–52 BC) to refer to his lover. Lesbia is traditionally identified with Clodia, the wife of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer and sister of Publius Clodius P ...

Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius