Description:
A small yellow Sulphur with a wingspan less than one and a half inches. It resembles a miniature Clouded Sulphur above, except for the black spot on the upper wing. Below, the wings are yellow with a few darker markings, with an orange spot present in the margin of the hindwing.
Habitat:
Open meadows and roadsides, especially where its favorite host plant partridge pea grows.
Overwintering Strategy:
Immigrant
Flight:
Two and possibly three broods in Wisconsin. The first moves into Wisconsin from the south and in favorable years this species may reproduce and have several broods.
Notes:
The Little Yellow is a common migrant species in Wisconsin. It is not likely that this butterfly can survive Wisconsin winters, and its population here is replenished each year from the southern states.
Overwintering Strategy
Two-way migration: Adult migrates from Wisconsin to Central Mexico
Small migration: Adult migrates from Wisconsin to southern US
Immigrant: Adult migrates into Wisconsin from warmer areas and don't fly south in winter
Adult Butterfly: Hibernates overwinter as an adult butterfly
Eggs: Eggs laid on stems, twigs or foot plants overwinter in diapause
Caterpillar: Caterpillars make nests on the base of plants and hibernate until spring
Chrysalis: Caterpillars shed their last skin, form a chrysalis and enter diapause.
For more information, read: Where Do Butterflies Go In Winter?
Further Information:
Design A Butterfly Garden
Take The Butterfly Quiz
Monarch Life Cycle
Butterflies and Moths of North America
WisconsinButterflies.org
Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Assn (NABA)
The Butterfly Site
