''Kricogonia lyside'', the lyside sulphur or guayacan sulphur, is a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n,
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
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 Levi ...
.
In seasons with heavy monsoons, this butterfly is seen in massive migrations which are frequent in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
but more rare in the southwest. It is also an occasional resident in southern
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Description
The lyside sulphur is variable. The upperside of the wings is pale yellow, usually with a black bar on the leading edge of the hindwing and a bright yellow patch near the base of the forewing. Some individuals also have black borders along the costa and apex of the forewing. The underside of the wings varies from a greenish color to bright yellow to almost white. Greener individuals have a whitish vein in the center of the hindwing and a bright yellow forewing basal patch. It has a wingspan of .
Similar species
Similar species in the lyside sulphur's range include Queen Alexandra's sulphur (''
Colias alexandra
''Colias alexandra'', the Queen Alexandra's sulphur, Alexandra sulphur, or ultraviolet sulfur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in western North America. Its range includes Alaska to the Northwest Territories and south to Arizona and N ...
''), the cloudless sulphur (''
Phoebis sennae
''Phoebis sennae'', the cloudless sulphur, is a mid-sized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the Americas. There are several similar species such as the yellow angled-sulphur (''Anteos maerula''), which has angled wings, statira sulphur ( ...
''), and the statira sulphur (''
Aphrissa statira
''Aphrissa statira'', the statira sulphur, is a species of Lepidoptera in the family ''Pieridae''. The species is a medium-sized yellow butterfly, with females more pale than males. They are found from southern regions of Florida and Texas throug ...
'').
Queen Alexandra's sulphur has more yellow on the underside of the forewing and has a whitish spot in the center of the hindwing.
The cloudless sulphur is larger and is much more yellow.
The statira sulphur has a more yellowish upper side and the underside of the wings is pale greenish to white with females having light pinkish markings.
Habitat
The lyside sulphur may be found in open, subtropical scrub.
Flight
This butterfly is seen almost all year in southern Texas and is seen from early July to mid-November in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. In Florida there have been scattered sightings from July to October.
Life cycle
The
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
is highly variable. It ranges in color from grass green to blackish green. It may have markings or may be unmarked. Marked individuals usually have dorsal and spiracular silvery stripes. It is the only
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
to feed on plants in the family
Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. The family includes around 285 species in 22 genera.
Plants in the family Zygophyllaceae may be trees, shrubs, or herbs. They are often found in dry habita ...
.Beccaloni, George W.; Ángel L. Viloria.; Stephen K. Hall.; Gaden S. Robinson (2008). ''Catalogue of the hostplants of the Neotropical butterflies. Catálogo de las plantas huésped de las mariposas neotropicales'', Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (SEA)/ Red Iberoamericana de Biogeografía y Entomología Sistemática (RIBES)/ Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (CYTED) / Natural History Museum, London (NHM) / Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, m3m: Monografías 3ercer Milenio, volumen 8 , Zaragoza, 536 pp., 1 fig. 3 tabls. Apparently they feed exclusively on the leaves of three ''
Guaiacum
''Guaiacum'' (''OED'' 2nd edition, 1989.Entry "guaiacum" in G. sanctum'' and '' G. angustifolium'' in Central and North America and '' G. officinale'' in South America and the Caribbean. The
chrysalis
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
is a bluish-green color. The lyside sulphur can grow from egg to adult in as little as 13 days. It has three or more
broods
Broods is a New Zealand musical duo from Nelson, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which w ...