''Colias myrmidone'', the Danube clouded yellow, is a

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 ...

in the family

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...

Distribution

It is found from Western

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, through Southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

up to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

near

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is . the butterflies of the second generation are often slightly larger than those of the first generation. The wing uppers of the males are bright orange-yellow in ground colour and have a dark edge that is not dusted. The dark border is narrower on the hind wingsand not broken through by veins (in contrast to ''

Colias crocea ''Colias croceus'', clouded yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the yellows and whites. Subspecies and forms * ''Colias croceus croceus'' * ''Colias croceus'' f. ''deserticola'' (Verity, 1909) * ''Colias croceus'' f. ''helice'' ...

'' ). The wing uppers of the females are orange-yellow to greenish-white ( ''C. myrmidone'' f. ''alba'' ) in colour and have a dark, dusty border. On the hind wings, the spots of the submarginal region often form a continuous band.In both sexes there is a red spot in the cell on the underside of the hindwing, the underside of the forewing has faint black spots in the postdiscal region (MHNT) Colias myrmidone myrmidone - Stará Turá Slovaquie - male dorsal.jpg, ''Colias myrmidone '' ♂ (MHNT) Colias myrmidone myrmidone - Stará Turá Slovaquie - male ventral.jpg, ''Colias myrmidone '' ♂ △ (MHNT) Colias myrmidone myrmidone - Stará Turá Slovaquie - female dorsal.jpg, ''Colias myrmidone'' ♀ (MHNT) Colias myrmidone myrmidone - Stará Turá Slovaquie - female ventral.jpg, ''Colias myrmidone'' ♀ △

Biology

The larvae feed on species of the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Chamaecytisus '' including '' Chamaecytisus ratisbonensis'', '' Chamaecytisus ruthenicus'' and '' Chamaecytisus supinus''. Dwarf broom prefers nutrient-poor grassland, as it is quickly overgrown by other plants on fertilized, nutrient-rich soil. But the caterpillars of the butterfly are also dependent on the soil on which their food plants grow being not oversaturated with nutrients. Because if the plants have taken up too much nitrogen from the soil, the caterpillars can not tolerate it and die. The butterfly flies in May and again from July to August in two generations.

Similar species

*'' Colias hyale'' *''

Colias alfacariensis ''Colias alfacariensis'', Berger's clouded yellow, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It was separated from the pale clouded yellow, ''C. hyale'', in 1905. Berger's clouded yellow is a Palearctic species (South and Central Europe, South Rus ...

'' *''

Colias phicomone ''Colias phicomone'', the mountain clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees, the Carpathian Mountains and the Alps. It flies at altitudes of 900 to 2800 meters. Description The ...

'' *''

Colias palaeno ''Colias palaeno'', known by the common names moorland clouded yellow, palaeno sulphur, and pale Arctic clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. Subspecies Subspecies include: – northern North America *''Colias palaeno chippewa'' ...

'' *''

Colias chrysotheme ''Colias chrysotheme'', the lesser clouded yellow, is a small Palearctic butterfly belonging to the family Pieridae. Description The female is white, with a tinge of yellow green. The male is pale yellow on the upper wing, and the edges are blac ...

'' *''

Colias erate ''Colias erate'', commonly known as the eastern pale clouded yellow, is a species of butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found from south-eastern Europe, through Turkey over central Asia up to Japan and Taiwan. To the south, its range stretch ...

References

External links

Taxonomy and photos

Fauna Europaea
myrmidone Butterflies described in 1780 Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper Endangered biota of Europe {{Pieridae-stub