The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow, or orange in coloration, often with black spots. The pigments that give the distinct coloring to these butterflies are derived from waste products in the body and are a characteristic of this family. The family was created by William John Swainson in 1820.
Colias croceus, clouded yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the yellows and whites.
Colias hyale, the pale clouded yellow, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae, which is found in most of Europe and large parts of the Palearctic. It is a rare migrant to the British Isles and Scandinavia. The adult wingspan is 52–62 millimetres (2.0–2.4 in).
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 Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia Central Asia and temperate China also Asia Minor, Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
Colias eurytheme, the orange sulphur, also known as the alfalfa butterfly and in its larval stage as the alfalfa caterpillar, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae, where it belongs to the lowland group of "clouded yellows and sulphurs" subfamily Coliadinae. It is found throughout North America from southern Canada to Mexico.
Colias is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are often called clouded yellows in the Palearctic and sulphurs in North America. The closest living relative is the genus Zerene, which is sometimes included in Colias.
Colias aurorina, the Greek clouded butterfly or dawn clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in Greece, the Near East, the Caucasus, and in Iran and Turkmenistan.
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.
Colias myrmidone, the Danube clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.
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 stretches to Somalia and Ethiopia. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1805.
Colias hecla, the northern clouded yellow or hecla sulphur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. In Europe, it is found in the northern part of Norway, Sweden and Finland up to heights of 900 m. It is also found in Greenland, Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Quebec, Labrador, Manitoba, the Chukot region, eastern Chukotka, and the Russian Far East.
Colias occidentalis, the western sulphur or golden sulphur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in North America. Its range includes the Pacific Northwest and parts of British Columbia.
Colias alexandra, the Queen Alexandra's sulphur, Alexandra sulphur, or ultraviolet sulfur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in western North America. Its range includes Alaska to the Northwest Territories and south to Arizona and New Mexico.
Colias gigantea, the giant sulphur or giant northern sulfur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in North America. Its range includes Alaska across Canada to the east coast and Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon.
Parnassius behrii, the Sierra Nevada parnassian, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California, US, where it is found in habitats such as rock slides, alpine tundra, and stream edges. Adults use members of the family Asteraceae as nectar plants, and both adults and larvae use Sedum species as nectar and host plants. P. behrii has one flight from mid-July to early September.
Colias scudderii, the willow sulphur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found from Alaska south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico. The habitat consists of mountain meadows and willow bogs.
Colias harfordii, the Harford's sulphur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found from the southern California coastal ranges and canyons from Kern County south to San Diego County. The habitat consists of open chaparral and woodland clearings.
