This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have an insect you can’t possibly miss, the Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae).
The Cloudless Sulphur is a large butterfly and a member of the White family, Pieridae. Members of this family are most often white, yellow, orange, or a combination of the above in color. They’re strong fliers, perch with their wings closed, and have a roughly circular silhouette. The Cloudless Sulphur is no exception.
They’re a common species found throughout the eastern half of North America and one of those few insect species that everyone is aware of, no matter how disinterested they may be in the subject. With their safety-vest-yellow wings and three-inch wingspan these butterflies are just screaming for attention. Males have cleaner hindwing coloration than females, who typically sport more obvious brown accents as well as noticeable wing-spots. Males will incessantly patrol a territory, back and forth, over and over, in search of females and warding off competing males. Cloudless Sulphurs are a common sight along roadsides and field edges where they search for nectar. They are one of the least picky butterfly species when it comes to nectar sources. They’re known for sipping from any and every species of flower they can find, especially those that other butterflies refuse to touch. Their caterpillars feed on Sicklepod and Partridge Peas, common weeds in fallow fields and road shoulders.
Although present from spring into winter, Cloudless Sulphur populations peak in late summer. This is not just because their local population has returned to where it was before. Their numbers have been bolstered by out-of-towners. Cloudless Sulphurs migrate just like Monarchs. In spring they head north to breed in more temperate areas. As the days begin to shorten, they start fluttering south. By late August their numbers explode in the Lowcountry as a chartreuse wash paints our roadways. Tumbling winds of lime butterflies funnel down our southwest bound highways and byways. Their ultimate destination is Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America, where they ride out the winter.
