Coliadinae, the sulphurs or yellows, are a subfamily of

butterflies 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 ...

with about 300 described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In most species, males are easily distinguished from females. For example, in the genera '' Colias'' and '' Gonepteryx''), 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 use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

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

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...

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

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

sequence, from the most ancient lineages to the most modern ones:Brower (2006) Basal lineage * '' Kricogonia'' Reakirt, 1863 * '' Nathalis'' Boisduval, 836/small> Euremini * '' Terias'' Swainson, 1821 * '' Pyrisitia'' Butler, 1870 * '' Abaeis'' Hübner, 819/small> * '' Eurema'' Hübner, 819/small> – grass yellows * ''

Leucidia ''Leucidia'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are native to the South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller porti ...

'' Doubleday, 847/small> * '' Teriocolias'' Roeber 1909 Goniopterygini * '' Dercas'' Doubleday, 847/small> – sulphurs * '' Gonepteryx'' Leach, 815/small> – brimstones Coliadini * ''

Catopsilia ''Catopsilia'' is a genus of butterfly, butterflies in the family (biology), family Pieridae, commonly called migrants or emigrants. Species Ordered alphabetically.819/small> – emigrants * '' Colias'' Fabricius, 1807 – clouded yellows * '' Zerene'' Hübner, 819/small> ** '' Zerene eurydice'' – California dogface butterfly * '' Anteos'' Hübner, 819/small> – angled-sulphurs * ''

Aphrissa ''Aphrissa'' is a genus of butterfly, butterflies in the family (biology), family Pieridae found in Central America, Central and South America. Species Listed alphabetically:Phoebis'' Hübner, 819/small> ** '' Phoebis sennae'' – cloudless sulphur ** '' Phoebis avellaneda'' – red-splashed sulphur * '' Prestonia'' Schaus, 1920 **'' Prestonia clarki'' Schaus, 1920 * '' Rhabdodryas'' Godman & Salvin, 889/small> **'' Rhabdodryas trite'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), 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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 27 – Battle of Fritzlar: The Conradines defeat the Babenberg counts, to establish themselves as duke ...

/small> ** '' Gandaca harina'' (Horsfield, 829 – tree yellow

Footnotes

References

* (2006):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) 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 s ...

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 Swainson Butterfly subfamilies * {{Pieridae-stub