| Mountain Clouded Yellow (Colias phicomone (Esper, 1780)) |
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Scientific name: Colias phicomone (Esper, 1780) Common name: Mountain Clouded Yellow French name: Candide, Soufré des montagnes Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Pieridae Subfamily: Coliadinae Wingspan: 50-54 mm. Biotope: Mountain meadows at an altitude higher than 1800 metres. Geographic area: The Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains. Flight time: June-August. Number of generations : 1 (sometimes 2). Caterpillar: Host plant: Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), White Clover (Trifolium repens) and Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa). |
The Mountain Clouded Yellow has a thin red wing fringe. The upper side of the male's wings is yellowish green with a wide grey outer border showing pale patches. This border is slightly smaller on the hind wings. The upper side of the hind wings is more greyish. The upper side of the female's wings is whitish. The border is similar to the male's one. The underside of the male's fore wings is yellow. The underside of the female's forewings is white with a yellow tip. The underside of the hind wings is yellowish green on both sexes. There is a small white spot , bordered with black on the forewing. There is a slightly larger white spot on the hind wing. You can distinguish the Moorland Clouded Yellow (Colias palaeno) with its large black continuous outer border on the upper side of the wings. The Pale Arctic Clouded Yellow (Colias nastes) is very similar but its geographic range is not the same as you can only observe it in the arctic regions. |
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I have shot this picture of a female in the Alps at an altitude of about 2200 metres. I have first thought to the Moorland Clouded Yellow (Colias palaeno) but you can see the white patches in the outer margin of the translucent forewings. |
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The few Mountain Clouded Yellow I have observed were always landed on the ground on grassy areas. |
André Bon August 2011