''Phoebis avellaneda'', the red-splashed sulphur or also known as the orange-washed sulphur, is a large, striking yellow butterfly 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 ...

. It is an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species found only 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 ...

. ''P. avellanada'' was named to honour the Cuban writer

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Arteaga (March 23, 1814 – February 1, 1873) was a 19th-century Cuban-born Spanish writer. Born in Puerto Príncipe, now Camagüey, she lived in Cuba until she was 22. Her family moved to Spain in 1836, where ...

. The insect is rare in collections. The butterfly is depicted on two Cuban

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the ...

; issues of 1982 20c and 1984 1c.

External links

Butterflies of the Americas
Coliadinae Butterflies of Cuba Endemic fauna of Cuba Taxa named by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer Butterflies described in 1865 {{pieridae-stub