Do butterflies like alfalfa?

Larvae feed for 2+ weeks. Adult / butterfly: The adults of the alfalfa caterpillar are the familiar yellow butterflies that can be seen flying over alfalfa, soybean, and other flowering fields, particularly in August.

How can you tell alfalfa butterfly?

The underside is yellow-orange with a double silver spot rimmed with reddish scales. The white female form is indistinguishable in the field from white clouded sulphurs. Larvae are green, with a pale dorsal (along the top) stripe and a white stripe edged with black along the sides. Wingspan: 12 inches.

Where do Orange Sulphur butterflies live?

Habitat and Range Orange sulphurs like open habitats from sea level to the mountains, such as agricultural fields, pastures, meadows, and lawns coast to coast from southern Canada to central Mexico. Closely tied to pea family plants (Fabaceae), millions may swarm alfalfa fields (becoming pests) when conditions allow.

What do Orange Sulphur butterflies eat?

As youngsters, orange sulphur caterpillars eat from leaf stem to tip, and as they age they eat one half of the leaf, then the second, as divided by the central vein. They feed mostly at night. Their favorite foods include legumes, members of the pea family (Fabaceae), clover (Trifolium) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa).

Do caterpillars eat alfalfa?

Alfalfa caterpillars can be distinguished from other worm pests such as beet armyworm by their velvety appearance. Alfalfa caterpillars consume the entire alfalfa leaf including the midrib.

Why are there so many yellow butterflies this year?

There’s a major outbreak in the area of alfalfa butterflies, also known as sulphur butterflies, Colias eurytheme. … Mass dispersal, like we’re seeing now–when they blanket urban flower gardens and mowed lawns–typically occurs when the alfalfa is cut. Females are laying eggs on clover in lawns.

How do you identify Sulphur butterflies?

Sulphur butterflies have an average wingspan of about 2-3 inches. There is some sexual dimorphism between male and female sulphur butterflies. The males are typically solid yellow, while the females are yellow with a black border on their wings and a dark spot at the center of each forewing.

How long do cloudless Sulphur butterflies live?

Quick Facts
Distribution From South America to the southern parts of Canada (most common in Argentina to southern regions of Texas, Georgia, and Florida in the US)
Lifespan of adults 2 to 4 weeks (average)
Host plants Legume plants including partridge pea, sennas, and clovers
Adult diet Nectar

What attracts Sulphur butterflies?

How to Attract a Clouded Sulphur Butterfly. Attract these beauties to your butterfly garden with lots of nectar plants, including coneflowers. Their host plants include alfalfa, clovers, and members of the vetch family.

How long does it take sulfur butterfly eggs to hatch?

With most species, when eggs begin to turn dark, they will soon hatch. It may take an hour to two days after turning dark, depending upon the species. Most butterfly eggs hatch within 3-6 days, depending on the temperature in the room where the eggs are located.

What caterpillar turns into a yellow butterfly?

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar If the evil eye fails to scare off predators, spicebush swallowtail caterpillars can break out their bright yellow retractable hornlike organs (called osmeteria) located behind their head, which bear a chemical repellent.

What is the state butterfly of Arizona?

two-tailed swallowtail butterfly Arizona’s state butterfly is the two-tailed swallowtail butterfly. The two-tailed swallowtail butterfly became the state butterfly in 2001. Swallowtails are the largest species of butterflies in the United States. It features a wingspan of 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches long.

What does it mean to see a yellow butterfly?

A yellow butterfly represents joy and creativity. A yellow butterfly flying around you brings happiness and prosperity. Seeing one also means that something fun and exciting is on its way. Yellow butterflies represent new life in many cultures.

How do I get rid of alfalfa weevil?

Two cultural practices can be used to reduce alfalfa weevil damage. Fall removal of alfalfa for hay or by grazing following freeze-down will reduce egg-laying sites. Early harvest in the spring can be used instead of an insecticide application.

Are yellow butterflies bad for the garden?

Butterflies themselves are not harmful to plants. However, leaves on a plant may die in response to butterfly eggs being laid on them. At the same time, butterflies pollinate flowers and are an indication of overall healthy wildlife ecology.

What are all yellow butterflies called?

Eurema lisa, commonly known as the little yellow, little sulphur or little sulfur, is a butterfly species of subfamily Coliadinae that occurs in Central America and the southern part of North America. … Eurema lisa.

Little yellow
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Eurema

Why are there so many yellow butterflies in my yard?

Most butterflies, but especially the yellow alfalfa butterflies are frequently observed on gravel roads and at mud puddles where they use their coiled proboscis to sip moisture from the ground to obtain salts and minerals that they can’t get from flower nectar.

What do Sulphur butterfly eggs look like?

The eggs resemble a tiny grain of white or yellow rice, and are usually laid singly on the edges of leaves. Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars are a bright green, with blue and/or yellow racing stripes down the side.

What are the yellow butterflies that look like monarchs?

Monarch- Danaus plexippus The Viceroy butterfly mimics the Monarch in order to deceive predators.

What caterpillars turn into what butterflies?

Where can you find cloudless Sulphur?

The cloudless sulphur is widspread in the southern United States, and it strays northward to Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey (Minno et al. 2005), and even into Canada (Riotte 1967). It is also found southward through South America to Argentina and in the West Indies (Heppner 2007).

Why are Sulphur butterflies called Sulphur?

Clouded sulphurs get their name from the chemical compound. Sulphur, or sulfur, is a yellow nonmetal. We typically notice sulfur by the smell — it smells like rotten eggs — but it is also a bright yellow color. Clouded sulphurs take after the color, not the smell of sulfur.

Could you find a pearl crescent butterfly on the Pacific coast?

The pearl crescent (Phyciodes tharos) is a butterfly of North America. It is found in all parts of the United States except the west coast, and throughout Mexico and parts of southern Canada, in particular Ontario.

Why is there so many yellow butterflies in Arizona?

Butterflies: Whites and Yellows Mountains in the south and north along with desert and generally warmer winters makes it a butterfly haven for many butterfly species common across the country along with regional specialties. Arizona also hosts almost every yellow butterfly species.

How do you attract yellow butterflies?

Plant type and color is important – Adult butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink and purple blossoms that are flat-topped or clustered and have short flower tubes. Plant good nectar sources in the sun – Your key butterfly nectar source plants should receive full sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

Do yellow sulfur butterflies migrate?

In late summer, cloudless sulphurs from as far north as Canada begin moving southward. Using the sun to keep them on course, these large, showy yellow butterflies migrate only about 12 miles a day. … During migration, you are apt to see these bright-yellow butterflies in a host of places.