Wednesday, December 4, 2013

DECEMBER YELLOW BUTTERFLY! (A MELLOW-YELLOW PHOTO BLOG)

Hi Everybody!!
I found a yellow December butterfly at the garden shop yesterday. He is not a mellow-yellow butterfly, but a clouded sulfur. (Info from Wikipedia shared below). Anyway, there is an old song from the sixties by Donovan named: Mellow Yellow. I find myself singing it in my head while in crowded stores shopping! So, in honor of the December Yellow Butterfly, the Yellow Snapdragon, the Yellow Pansy, Donovan and staying mellow during the big rush to the end of the year, tonight is a Mellow Yellow Photo Blog for You. (You can sing the song while you view the pics!) Enjoy!

Link to photostudy in G+ Album Gallery:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5952902750334502641

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebis_sennae

Phoebis sennae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cloudless Sulphur or Cloudless Giant Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) is a midsizedbutterfly in the family Pieridae found in the New World. There are several similar species such as the Yellow Angled-sulphur (Anteos maerula), which has angled wings, or other sulphurs, which are much smaller.

Cloudless Sulphur

Female

Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Phoebis
Species:	P. sennae
Binomial name
*Phoebis sennae* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution[edit]

Their range is wide, from South America to southern Canada, in particular southwesternOntario.^[1] They are most common from Argentina to southern Texas and Florida, but are often visitors outside this range becoming more rare further north.

Habitat[edit]

The common habitats of this butterfly are open spaces, gardens, glades, seashores, and watercourses.

Habits[edit]

The adult butterfly feeds on nectar from many different flowers with long tubes includingcordia, bougainvillea, cardinal flower, hibiscus, lantana, and wild morning glory.

Life cycle[edit]

The breeding season is dependent on the climate of the area, from midsummer to fall in the cooler areas, to year-round where the climate is warmer.

Egg[edit]

The Cloudless Sulphur starts off as a pitcher-shaped white egg. Eventually it will turn to a pale orange. The egg stage lasts six days.

Caterpillar[edit]

Once the egg hatches, a caterpillar emerges that is yellow to greenish, striped on sides, with black dots in rows across the back. The caterpillar will build a tent in a host plant where it hides in the day. The host plant may be partridge pea (Chamaecrista cinerea),sennas (Senna),^[2] clovers (Trifolium), or other legumes (Fabaceae). The caterpillar will usually grow to a length between 41–45 mm (1.6–1.8 in).

Chrysalis[edit]

The caterpillar will form a chrysalis that is pointed at both ends and humped in the middle. The chrysalis will be either yellow or green with pink or green stripes. From the chrysalis comes a medium sized butterfly (55–70 mm (2.2–2.8 in)) with fairly elongated but not angled wings.

Adult[edit]

The male butterfly is clear yellow above and yellow or mottled with reddish brown below and the female is lemon-yellow to golden or white on both surfaces, with varying amounts of black spotting along the margin and a black open square or star on the bottom forewing. Wingspan: 63–78 mm (2.5–3.1 in).