Colias hecla

Colias hecla
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Tribe:	Coliadini
Genus:	Colias
Species:	C. hecla
Binomial name
Colias hecla Lefèbvre, 1836
Synonyms
Eurymus hecla Dyar, 1903 Colias groenlandica Lampa, 1893

Colias hecla, the northern clouded yellow or hecla sulphur, is a butterfly in the Pieridae family. In Europe, it is found in the northern part of Norway, Sweden and Finland up to heights of 900 m. It is also found in Greenland, Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Quebec, Labrador, Manitoba, the Chukot region, East Chukotka, and the Far East.

The wingspan is 36–46 mm. The butterfly flies in June to August depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Astragalus species, including Astragalus frigidus and Astragalus alpinus as well as Trifolium repens. They are also known to feed on Salix arctica where Astragalus are absent.^[1]

Subspecies

Colias hecla sulitelma

• Colias hecla hecla (Greenland)
• Colias hecla glacialis (Alaska and the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Quebec, Labrador)
• Colias hecla hela (Manitoba, Northwest Territories)
• Colias hecla aquilonaris or Colias hecla orientis (Chukot region, Far East)
• Colias hecla sulitelma (Scandinavia, northwestern Siberia)
• Colias hecla zamolodchikovi (East Chukotka)
• Colias hecla viluiensis Ménétries, 1859 (Transbaikal)

Colias hecla sulitelma is sometimes treated as a separate species Colias sulitelma. If that is the case, Colias hecla zamolodchikovi is considered a subspecies of Colias sulitelma, named Colias sulitelma zamolodchikovi.

Furthermore, Colias canadensis is sometimes treated as a subspecies of Colias hecla, named Colias hecla canadensis.

References

1. MSc thesis, University of Helsinki, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/36981

External links

• Colias hecla von J. Fuchs
• Colias hecla, Lepidoptera of Norway
• Colias hecla, Russian Insects
• State Darwin Museum Darwin Museum type specimen images of ssp. zamolodchikovi.