Colias electo

Colias electo
♂ upper and underside♀ upper and underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Colias
Species:	C. electo
Binomial name
Colias electo (Linnaeus, 1763) [1]
Synonyms
Papilio electo Linnaeus, 1763 Papilio electra Linnaeus, 1767 Papilio palaeno Stoll, 1781 Colias aurivillius Keferstein, 1883 Colias electo electo f. overlaeti Berger, 1940 Colias electo f. millari Stoneham, 1957 Colias electo ab. eremna Vári, 1976 Colias electo electo f. elysium Kroon, 1985 Colias electo electo ab. capensis McLeod and McLeod, 2002 Colias electo electo ab. inconstantis McLeod, 2004 Colias electo electo ab. memorabilis McLeod, 2004 Colias electo electo ab. pallidula McLeod, 2004 Colias hecate Strecker, 1900 Colias electo hecate f. katangae Berger, 1940 Colias electo hecate f. bunda Berger, 1940 Colias electo hecate f. elisabethae Berger, 1940 Colias electo meneliki f. bafanae Berger, 1940 Colias electo philbyi f. bafanae Berger, 1953 Colias electo philbyi f. pauper Berger, 1953 Colias electo philbyi Berger, 1953 Colias electo pseudohecate f. licina Berger, 1940 Colias electo pseudohecate f. lecerfi Berger, 1940 Colias electo pseudohecate f. splendens Berger, 1940 Colias electo pseudohectae ab. dormonti Dufrane, 1947 Colias electo f. affricana Stoneham, 1957 Colias electo f. ambreana Stoneham, 1957

Colias electo, the African clouded yellow or lucerne butterfly, is a butterfly of the Pieridae family. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, as well as Arabia. The habitat consists of temperate and montane grasslands.^[2]

The wingspan is 35–40 millimetres (1.4–1.6 in) for males and 32–40 mm (1.3–1.6 in) for females. Adults are on the wing throughout the year, with a peak from April to August.^[3]

The larvae feed on Medicago sativa, Trifolium, Vicia and Robinia pseudoacacia.

Subspecies

• Colias electo electo (South Africa, southern Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia)
• Colias electo hecate Strecker, 1900 (Angola, southern Zaire, northern Zambia and north-western Malawi)
• Colias electo pseudohecate Berger, 1940 (Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan, southern Ethiopia and northern Somalia)
• Colias electo meneliki Berger, 1940 (central and northern Ethiopia and Eritrea)
• Colias electo philbyi Berger, 1953 (southern and western Arabia)
• Colias electo manengoubensis Darge, 1968 (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon)

References

1. Colias, Site of Markku Savela
2. Afrotropical Butterflies: File D – Pierini - Subfamily Coliadinae
3. Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.

• Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 22 f