Size:
Wingspan is 1 1/2 - 2 3/8 inches.

Similar Species:
Clouded Sulphur
Pink-edged Sulphur (WV mtns. only)
Southern Dogface (rare)

Habitat:
Open areas, meadows, cultivated fields, roadsides and gardens.

Range/Abundance:
Very common to abundant in most of the region. Uncommon in the coastal plain.

Flight Period:
Adults fly from early March until late November in four to five broods without any noticeable gaps between broods.

Larval Host Plants:
Alfalfa Medicago sativa, White Clover Trifolium repens, and White Sweet Clover Melilotus alba.

Comments:
Orange Sulphur is not an easy species to tell apart from Clouded Sulphur at all. It takes lots of close study to see the difference and once in a while you might still have problems telling them apart by sight alone.

In early spring they are the most difficult because both species are much greener than later broods when Orange Sulphur is much more orange.

Females often have a white "albino" form see the Comparison Page.

The top photo was taken at the Green Bottoms Wildlife Management Area in Cabell Co., WV on August 27, 2002. The second photo was taken in Caswell Co., NC on May 27, 2001. The third photo was taken in Durham Co., NC on November 03, 2003. The bottom photo was taken at Mt. Mitchell State Park in Yancy Co., NC on August 10, 2003.

Orange Sulphur and Clouded Sulphur
Comparison Page.

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