Clouded sulphur
Clouded Sulphur wings reflect ultraviolet patterns invisible to people, letting the butterflies tell their own species apart from the similar Orange Sulphur.
| Where | Open fields, meadows and gardens |
|---|---|
| Size | 25 to 64 mm wingspan |
| When | May to October |
Males are clear pale yellow above with a solid black border, while females show yellow spots scattered through that same dark border and some appear white instead of yellow. Both sexes carry a silver spot ringed in pink on the hindwing below.
Caterpillars feed on clovers and other legumes, and adults visit mud puddles and a wide range of garden and roadside flowers. Multiple generations fly from spring through mid-fall across most of North America.
Traits
Habitat
Grassland
Colour
Yellow, Black
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to people; adults are common visitors to garden and roadside flowers.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Upperside is orange or orange-tinted (though some females are white), while the Clouded Sulphur has pale yellow wings above with no trace of orange.
Questions
Is the Clouded sulphur dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; adults are common visitors to garden and roadside flowers.
When can you see the Clouded sulphur?
The Clouded sulphur can be seen from May to October, by day.
Plate retouched from a museum specimen photo by Darryl Daley, Colorado State University, C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, CC0, GBIF Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Whites and yellows›Colias
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.