Pink-edged Sulphur

Sulphurs are medium sized yellow butterflies in the Pieridae family. They have six fully developed legs, unlike the member of the brushfoot family. They can usually be found taking nectar from wild flowers or perched on moist soil, almost always perched with wings closed. Most over winter as a caterpillar pupating in the spring.

We have five sulphurs that are found in this area. This one is a pink-sided sulphur. Many different sulphurs have a pink edge on their wings that some people associate with the pink-sided but the true way to determine if a sulphur is a pink-sided instead of a clouded or orange sulphur is by the number of spots on the hind wing. Pink-sided sulphurs have a single spot on their hind wing compared to two spots on both the clouded and orange sulphurs. Another clue to help determine the type of sulphur is to look in the habitat for the Caterpillar host plant. Pink-sided sulphur caterpillars only eat blue-berry leaves, so the butterflies are usually found in areas near blueberry. Most other sulphur butterfly caterpillars in this area eat legumes, or members of the pea family.