(Linnaeus, 1758)
Pale Clouded Yellow
Description:
The Pale Clouded Yellow is mostly found on fields of clover or lucerne, but also on meadows that are lightly grazed where many leguminous plants are growing. It prefers open landscapes with few trees or bushes.
Eggs are laid singly on many species of Leguminosae. The caterpillar feeds on young leaves and overwinters as half-grown caterpillar. It pupates, suspended in a girdle from a stalk on the food plant. The Pale Clouded Yellow has two or three generations a year, depending on geographical location and altitude of the flight area. In the northern part of of its range, it is a migrant species, but in most of Central Europe it is a resident. The Pale Clouded Yellow is very hard to distinguish from Berger's Clouded Yellow (Colias alfacariensis). The latter species is only found on calcareous grasslands with Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa). Although the Pale Clouded Yellow has a preference for clover and lucerne fields, when migrating, it can turn up almost anywhere.
Habitat:
Fallow land and waste places
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Similar species:
Colias alfacariensis
Colias erate