''Phoebis argante'', the apricot sulphur or Argante giant sulphur, 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 ...

Description

''Phoebis argante'' has a

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 ...

of about . The uppersides of the male's wings are bright orange with a thin black or dark brown border on forewings. The hindwings are slightly paler and have two small whitish spots in the middle. The basic colour of the females vary from white to yellow, with dark borders. Larvae feed on ''

Pentaclethra macroloba ''Pentaclethra macroloba'' is a large and common leguminous tree in the genus ''Pentaclethra'' native to the wet tropical areas of the northern Neotropics, which can form monoculture, monocultural stands in some seasonally flooded habitats. It ha ...

'', '' Cassia biflora'', '' Cassia fruticosa'', ''

Inga vera ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s l ...

'' and '' Inga ruiziana''.

Distribution

This species can be found 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 ...

up to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, in the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

and in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Subspecies

Specimens from Mexico to Panama do not have a recognised subspecies. The following

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: *''P. a. argante'' (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

) *''P. a. larra'' (Fabricius, 1798) (

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

) *''P. a. minuscula'' (Butler, 1869) (

) *''P. a. rorata'' (Butler, 1869) (

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

) *''P. a. comstocki'' Avinoff, 1944 (

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

) *''P. a. chincha'' Lamas, 1976 (

) *''P. a. martini'' Comstock, 1944 ''R. a. argante'' puddles with other yellows and sulphurs including the stratia 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 ...

''), straight-line sulphur (''

Rhabdodryas trite ''Rhabdodryas'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. The only species is the straight-line sulphur (''Rhabdodryas trite''). ''R. trite'' puddles with other yellows and sulphurs including the statira sulphur (''Aphrissa statira ' ...

'') and orange-banded sulphur ('' Phoebis philea''). Apricot sulphur (Phoebis argante).JPG, ''P. a. argante'' Puddling sulphur butterflies.JPG, Puddling, Cristalino River
Southern Amazon, Brazil Puddling butterflies.JPG, Puddling, Cristalino River

References

Funet

External links

*
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Coliadinae Lepidoptera of Mexico Butterflies of Central America Butterflies of Cuba Pieridae of South America Lepidoptera of Brazil Fauna of the Amazon Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Butterflies described in 1775 Butterflies of Jamaica Fauna of Hispaniola Fauna of Suriname Lepidoptera of Guyana Lepidoptera of Peru Lepidoptera of Colombia Lepidoptera of Venezuela Lepidoptera of the United States Lepidoptera of Panama Lepidoptera of Costa Rica {{Pieridae-stub