Common Emigrant (Catopsilia pomona) on Canthium coromandelicum W IMG 9093

Coliadinae, the sulphurs or yellows, are a subfamily of

butterflies 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 ...

with about 300 described

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. There are 36 species in North America, where they range from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In most species, males are easily distinguished from females. For example, in the genera ''

Colias ''Colias'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are often called clouded yellows; the North American name "sulphurs" is elsewhere used for Coliadinae in general. The closest living relative is the genus '' Zerene'', which is so ...

'' and ''

Gonepteryx ''Gonepteryx'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae, which contains about 1,100 species. They live in Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. They are commonly known as brimstones for the bright yellow colour of the wings of most species. ...

''), males exhibit brilliant UV reflections that the females lack.

Systematics

The Coliadinae can be arranged in the three traditional

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s and a basal lineage, with one genus of unclear placement. The

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

—including some selected species—are arranged here in the presumed

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

sequence, from the most ancient lineages to the most modern ones:Brower (2006) Basal lineage * '' Kricogonia'' Reakirt, 1863 * '' Nathalis'' Boisduval,

836 __NOTOC__ Year 836 ( DCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Driven by tensions between his favoured Turkish guard and the popula ...

/small> Euremini * ''

Terias ''Eurema'' is a widespread genus of grass yellow butterflies in the family Pieridae. Species range from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania, to the New World. The type species is the North American barred yellow (''Eurema daira''). There ...

'' Swainson, 1821 * '' Pyrisitia'' Butler, 1870 * '' Abaeis'' Hübner, 819/small> * ''

Eurema ''Eurema'' is a widespread genus of grass yellow butterfly, butterflies in the family Pieridae. Species range from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania, to the New World. The type species is the North American barred yellow (''Eurema daira' ...

'' Hübner, 819/small> – grass yellows * ''

Leucidia ''Leucidia'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are native to the South America. Species * '' Leucidia brephos'' (Hübner, 809 __NOTOC__ Year 809 (Roman numerals, DCCCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will ...

'' Doubleday,

847 __NOTOC__ Year 847 ( DCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Danish Vikings land in the Breton March (western part of Gaul). Duke Nominoe ...

/small> * ''

Teriocolias ''Eurema'' is a widespread genus of grass yellow butterflies in the family Pieridae. Species range from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania, to the New World. The type species is the North American barred yellow (''Eurema daira''). There ...

'' Roeber 1909 Goniopterygini * ''

Dercas ''Dercas'' is a genus of butterflies 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 n ...

'' Doubleday,

/small> – sulphurs * ''

'' Leach,

815 __NOTOC__ Year 815 (Roman numerals, DCCCXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 815, Byzantine–Bulgaria ...

/small> – brimstones Coliadini * ''

Catopsilia ''Catopsilia'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae, commonly called migrants or emigrants. Species Ordered alphabetically.819/small> – emigrants * ''

'' Fabricius, 1807 – clouded yellows * ''

Zerene ''Zerene'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae commonly called dogfaces. The closest living relative is the genus ''Colias''. They are migratory. Species * ''Zerene cesonia ''Zerene cesonia'', the southern dogface, is a North Ame ...

'' Hübner, 819/small> ** ''

Zerene eurydice ''Zerene eurydice'', the California dogface butterfly, belongs to the family Pieridae and is a sister genus to ''Colias.'' ''The Zerene eurydice'' and the ''Colias'' both share the "characteristic of having yellow-orange and black wing coordinati ...

'' – California dogface butterfly * ''

Anteos ''Anteos'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae, commonly called angled-sulphurs. Species Listed alphabetically:819/small> – angled-sulphurs * ''

Aphrissa ''Aphrissa'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae found in Central and South America. Species Listed alphabetically:Phoebis ''Phoebis'', or sulphurs, is a genus of butterflies, belonging to the subfamily Coliadinae of the "whites" or family Pieridae. They are native to the Americas. Selected species *'' Phoebis agarithe'' (Boisduval, 836 – large orange sulphur (so ...

'' Hübner, 819/small> ** ''

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 ( ...

'' – cloudless sulphur ** ''

Phoebis avellaneda ''Phoebis avellaneda'', the red-splashed sulphur, is a large, striking yellow butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is an endemic species found only in Cuba. ''P. avellanada'' was named to honour the Cuban writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda. ...

'' – red-splashed sulphur * '' Prestonia'' Schaus, 1920 **'' Prestonia clarki'' Schaus, 1920 * '' Rhabdodryas'' Godman & Salvin,

889 __NOTOC__ Year 889 ( DCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Guy III, duke of Spoleto, defeats the Lombard king Berengar I at the Tr ...

/small> **'' Rhabdodryas trite'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ''

Incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' * '' Gandaca'' Moore,

906 __NOTOC__ Year 906 ( CMVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 27 – Battle of Fritzlar: The Conradines defeat the Babenberg co ...

/small> ** '' Gandaca harina'' (Horsfield,

829 __NOTOC__ Year 829 ( DCCCXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October 2 – Emperor Michael II dies after an 8-year reign in C ...

– tree yellow

Footnotes

References

* (2006):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The site h ...

Coliadinae
Version of November 16, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2008 * (2005): Extreme ultraviolet sexual dimorphism in jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 89(3): 397-406. (HTML abstract) Taxa named by William John Swainson Butterfly subfamilies * {{Pieridae-stub