(Fourcroy, 1785)
Clouded Yellow
Description:
In good summers, the Clouded Yellow is a very fast flyer and can be seen practically over the whole of Europe, often on fields of clover or lucerne, or other flower-rich vegetations. It lays its eggs one by one, on the leaves of such leguminous plants as Lucerne (Medicago sativa), clovers (Trifolium spp.), and vetches (Vicia spp.). It pupates, suspended in a silken girdle on the food plant. In the south, where it can survive the winter, the Clouded Yellow hibernates as a chrysalis. In the north, because it cannot tolerate the cold, it only appears as a summer migrant, recolonizing from the south.
This species has four to six broods a year.
Habitat:
Generalist
Similar species:
Colias myrmidone
Colias chrysotheme