Orange-barred Sulphur

 The orange-barred sulphur is a large yellow-orange butterfly that is found mainly in tropical regions of North, South and Central America. Their range is from the southern United States down to Brazil. In the U.S. this butterfly is found primarily in south Florida where it is a year round resident. Occasionally they will move north and west and rare strays have been spotted as far north as Minnesota and Wisconsin. These photos were taken in Florida

 The male and female orange-barred sulphurs look very different. The males are easy to identify by the orange bars on the upperside of the forewing and orange border on the bottom of the hindwing. This is easy to see but not so easy to photograph as these butterflies usually perch with their wings closed. So I had to try and get the shot as the butterfly opened its wings to fly to the next flower. Females are larger then males and can be whitish or yellow-orange in color. Both color forms of the female have a solid black cell spot.