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The Orange Sulphur above are yellow with various amounts of orange scaling. The orange is very evident in flight. This helps to distinguish the Orange Sulphur from the Clouded Sulphur, which is very similar in appearance. The males have a narrow, solid black border while the females have yellow spots in the border. Below the wings are a yellowish/orange colour with a faint row of small black marginal spots, and a double central spot. Some females of this species are white instead of yellow. Their wing span is 3.5 – 5.5 cm.
Females lay eggs singly on top of host plant leaves, usually Alfalfa (hence the name) or Clover. Most feeding takes place at night, consuming the nectar from many kinds of flowers including Dandelion, Goldenrod and Milkweed. There are two to three flights in the Algonquin Highlands, from June-October.
You may find the Orange Sulphur in a wide variety of open sites, especially Clover and Alfalfa fields. In fact, they can become numerous enough in these fields to be considered an agricultural pest!
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ALFALFA BUTTERFLY / ORANGE SULPHUR
Colias eurytheme
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