''Kricogonia lyside'', the lyside sulphur or guayacan sulphur, is a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
n,
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n
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 ...
.
In seasons with heavy monsoons, this butterfly is seen in massive migrations which are frequent in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
but more rare in the southwest. It is also an occasional resident in southern
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
Description
The lyside sulphur is variable. The upperside of the wings is pale yellow, usually with a black bar on the leading edge of the hindwing and a bright yellow patch near the base of the forewing. Some individuals also have black borders along the costa and apex of the forewing. The underside of the wings varies from a greenish color to bright yellow to almost white. Greener individuals have a whitish vein in the center of the hindwing and a bright yellow forewing basal patch. It has a wingspan of .
Similar species
Similar species in the lyside sulphur's range include Queen Alexandra's sulphur ('' Colias alexandra''), the cloudless sulphur ('' Phoebis sennae''), and the statira sulphur (''
Aphrissa statira
''Aphrissa statira'', the statira sulphur, is a species of Lepidoptera in the family ''Pieridae''. The species is a medium-sized yellow butterfly, with females more pale than males. They are found from southern regions of Florida and Texas throug ...
'').
Queen Alexandra's sulphur has more yellow on the underside of the forewing and has a whitish spot in the center of the hindwing.
The cloudless sulphur is larger and is much more yellow.
The statira sulphur has a more yellowish upper side and the underside of the wings is pale greenish to white with females having light pinkish markings.
Habitat
The lyside sulphur may be found in open, subtropical scrub.
Flight
This butterfly is seen almost all year in southern Texas and is seen from early July to mid-November in
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. In Florida there have been scattered sightings from July to October.
Life cycle
The
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
is highly variable. It ranges in color from grass green to blackish green. It may have markings or may be unmarked. Marked individuals usually have dorsal and spiracular silvery stripes. It is the only
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 ...
to feed on plants in the family
Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. The family includes around 285 species in 22 genera.
Plants in the family Zygophyllaceae may be trees, shrubs, or herbs. They are often found in dry habit ...
.Beccaloni, George W.; Ángel L. Viloria.; Stephen K. Hall.; Gaden S. Robinson (2008). ''Catalogue of the hostplants of the Neotropical butterflies. Catálogo de las plantas huésped de las mariposas neotropicales'', Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (SEA)/ Red Iberoamericana de Biogeografía y Entomología Sistemática (RIBES)/ Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (CYTED) / Natural History Museum, London (NHM) / Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, m3m: Monografías 3ercer Milenio, volumen 8 , Zaragoza, 536 pp., 1 fig. 3 tabls. Apparently they feed exclusively on the leaves of three ''
Guaiacum
''Guaiacum'' (''OED'' 2nd edition, 1989.Entry "guaiacum" in G. sanctum'' and '' G. angustifolium'' in Central and North America and '' G. officinale'' in South America and the Caribbean. The
chrysalis
A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...
is a bluish-green color. The lyside sulphur can grow from egg to adult in as little as 13 days. It has three or more
broods
Broods are a musical duo from Nelson, New Zealand, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals.
They released the single "Bridges (Broo ...