Clouded Yellow
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| Colias croceus Geoffroy, 1785 |
The Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus, is a small butterfly of the Pieridae family, that is, the Yellows and Whites. In India it is known as the Dark Clouded Yellow to distinguish it from the other species of Clouded Yellows occurring there.
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[edit] Description
Easily identifiable by the bright yellow colouring, much brighter than that of the lemon yellow male Brimstone. The upperside is golden yellow with a broad black margin on all four wings. The underside has a more greenish tint to it and lacks the black borders. In the center of the underside hindwing is an obvious white spot. Females differ from the males in having yellow spots along the black borders on the upperside. Like all Colias sp. they never open their wings at rest. In a small proportion of females the golden upperside colouration is replaced by a pale cream colour, form helice, which can be confused with the rarer Pale Clouded Yellow Colias hyale and Berger's Clouded Yellow Colias alfacariensis. Helice tends to be more heavily marked in black.
[edit] Distribution
Clouded Yellows breeding range is North Africa and southern Europe and eastwards through Turkey into the Middle East but It occurs throughout much of Europe as a summer migrant, in good years individuals reaching Scandinavia. In the UK they can be seen on the south coast almost every year in varying numbers where they regularly breed. Occurrence in the rest of the UK varies considreably from year to year.
[edit] Habits
A truly migratory European butterfly, this species is famous for occasional mass migrations and subsequent breeding, which are often referred to in the United Kingdom as 'Clouded Yellow Years'. Notable clouded yellow years include 1877, 1947, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000.
[edit] Life cycle
In southern Europe and North Africa they breed continuously throughout the year.
[edit] Eggs
Eggs are laid singly on foodplant leaves.
[edit] Caterpillars
The larvae grow fast in warm weather, sometimes pupating within a month.
[edit] Pupa
Pupation lasts for two or three weeks and in good years there can be as many as three broods in a year in th UK with adults still on the wing at the beginning of November.
[edit] Foodplants
Clouded Yellows feed on a variety of leguminous plants. In the UK wild and cultivated clover Trifolium spp. and Lucerne Medicago sativa are favourites and less frequently, Common Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus.
[edit] References
- Asher, Jim et al, The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Oxford University Press.
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
- Gaonkar, Harish (1996) Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
- Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac & Punetha, J.C.(1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
- Kunte, Krushnamegh (2005) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
