''Anthocharis julia'', also known as the Southern Rocky Mountain Orangetip, is a type of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

found in the southern

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

on the eastern side of the range. Their

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 ...

s feed on rock cress (''

Arabis ''Arabis'' ,''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 or rockcress, is a genus of flowering plants, within the family Brassicaceae. Description The species are herbaceous, annual or perennial plants, growing to 10–80 cm tall, usu ...

'') species. Adults feed on flower nectar from host plants as well as thistles, fiddleneck, and brodiaeas. Its habitats include foothill canyons and washes, usually in oak woodland, as well as forested riparian areas.

References

Anthocharis Fauna of the Rocky Mountains Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1872 Taxa named by William Henry Edwards Lepidoptera of the United States {{Pieridae-stub