| Moorland clouded yellow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| C. p. palaeno, Sweden | |
 | |
| C. p. europomene, female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pieridae |
| Genus: | Colias |
| Species: | C. palaeno |
| Binomial name | |
| Colias palaeno (Linnaeus, 1761) | |
| Subspecies | |
Several, see text | |
Colias palaeno, known by the common names moorland clouded yellow, palaeno sulphur, and pale Arctic clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Subspecies include: [1]
Colias aias is treated as a full species by some authors. [6]
Colias palaeno is a Holarctic species, widespread through Asia, Europe and North America. It is present in central and northern Europe from eastern France to the Baltic States and northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and to the eastern Europe, then in eastern Siberia, in the Chukchi Peninsula, in Japan and in northern areas of North America. [1] [7] [8]
This species inhabits various types of moorland, [9] forest meadows, open coniferous forests [10] and open areas which may contain scrub. In the southern areas of its range it is a high alpine species reaching an elevation over 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above sea level, but it can be found on upland bogs at an elevation of about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). [11] Though the species is normally restricted to these habitats, occasionally it is found far from suitable breeding grounds.
Colias palaeno has a wingspan of 46–50 millimetres (1.8–2.0 in) in males, of 50–52 millimetres (2.0–2.0 in) in females. [12] Upperside of male pale yellow with blackish brown distal margins, pale-centred dark middle spot to the forewing and light middle pot to the hindwing; fringes red. Underside of forewing pale yellow with white-centred dark middle spot, the costal and distal edges being red; hindwing yellow, strongly dusted with fuscous, the large middle spot being mother-of-pearl colour, and the fringes red. The female has a white ground colour above, the underside of the forewing being white proximally, yellow at apex, the hindwing being somewhat paler in the female than in the male.
The larva is sea-green, velvety, bearing minute black dots; a lateral stripe bright yellow edged with black beneath, below the same the white black-edged spiracles; underside and abdominal legs dull green, thoracic legs yellowish, head green. The Pupa is greenish yellow, the back being strongly convex. [13]
It is a univoltine species, flying from June to August. [9] As most Colias-species, Colias palaeno is an avid flyer. The larva is found on bog bilberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum ), on Vaccinium myrtillus and on Vaccinium caespitosum . [1]
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.
Colotis amata, the small salmon Arab, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. It is found in Africa and Asia. Adults are fond of smaller flowers for nectar and often fly low along the ground in search of wildflowers.
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.
Melitaea didyma, the spotted fritillary or red-band fritillary, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
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 chippewa, the heath sulphur, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in North America and northeastern Asia. Its range includes Alaska across northern Canada, including all the territories, and as far east as Labrador. and the Russian Far East.
Colias marcopolo, the Marco Polo's colias, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the Pamir Mountains the Hindu Kush and Afghanistan.
Colias aquilonaris is a butterfly in the family Pieridae found only on the Chukchi Peninsula in the Russian Far East and along the valleys of the rivers Olenyok and Yana.
Colias viluiensis, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in Transbaikalia.
Colias heos is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the East Palearctic.
Colias hyperborea is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the East Palearctic.
Colias lesbia is a species of butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the Neotropical realm.
Colias montium is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the eastern Palearctic realm.
Colias sifanica is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the eastern Palearctic realm.
Colias regia is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the East Palearctic.
Colias romanovi is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the eastern Palearctic realm.
