We have recorded ten species of Pierids (Whites and Sulphurs) on Crowley's Ridge. There are at least three species in this puddling group (plus an uninvited praying mantis).
To begin with a white, Checkered Whites can be abundant over agricultural fields late in the year. In flight they always appear exceptionally crisp and white. This is the male with his rather simple pattern of black spots.
Here is a male (I think) with a stronger pattern. Both sexes are nicely marked below.
The female is more heavily, and more attractively, marked above.
The large black mark in the center of the leading edge of the forewing helps to separate Checkered White from the following species, which does not have that mark.
The introduced Cabbage White also occurs on the Ridge, but like the Checkered, is commoner over the row crops on the surrounding delta. In flight, it appears greener than the pure white Checkered. When it is landed, you can see the black at the tips of the forewing, which the Checkered does not have.
The underside of the Cabbage White's hind wing is often yellowish, which is why it does not appear as pristine white in flight as the Checkered.
In the very early spring, the Falcate Orangetip appears.
Even with its wings closed, the male's orange tips show through
A week or so after the diminutive males show up, the females (without orange tips) begin to appear.
A small white butterfly in spring with lots of marbling underneath will be the female orangetip.
Possibly this is a female showing just a bit of orange.
The various sulphurs are generally some shade of yellow. One problem with trying to identify the different species is that they invariably land with their wings closed so that you only see the underside of the wings, and from the underside they all look pretty much the same. This one is an Orange Sulphur, one of the commonest species over open fields.
They are orange on the upper side of their wings, which can usually be glimpsed in flight, though the only time you can get a good look is when they have been predated (in this case by an ambush bug) and are hanging limply dead with their wings open.
From underneath Orange Sulphurs often look yellow, but when the light shines through the wings you can usually get some glimpse of the orange.
This is easier in the fall, when they have their deepest orange color.
However, early in the year the Orange Sulphurs look purely yellow, with almost no trace of orange.
This is a problem when you are trying to separate them from the closely related and often virtually identical Clouded Sulphur. In this picture a Clouded Sulphur is in the middle between two Orange Sulphurs and luckily here the difference is quite clear, the flush of orange on two butterflies, and then the clear lemon yellow in the middle. When these three flew down the beach away from me, I could pick out that clear yellow from as far away as I could see it. It is not always this easy.
This is a Southern Dogface. It features a pointed forewing, looks bright yellow in flight, and though the dog face is on the upper surface of the forewing, here the bright eye and poodle face can be seen through to the underside.
Later in the year identification is even easier as the Southern Dogface gets greater or lesser amounts of pink on the underside of the wings.
Backlit, the dog face shines through.
A very large, very yellow, and very common species is the Cloudless Sulphur. Both sexes are bright yellow above in flight. On the underside (which is what you always see when they are landed) the male on the right is a very pale green, the female on the left is covered with brown spotting.
Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars come in a yellow form
and in a green form
The chrysalis, through which the wings can already be made out, is a typical shape for many of the sulphurs.
Here is the almost unmarked male just eclosed.
The more heavily marked female.
A small all yellow butterfly will be the Little Yellow. When they land, note the two black spots at the base of the hind wing (right behind the head). That's a sure sign of this species.
A little red spot at the apex of the hind wing indicates that this is a female Little Yellow. Note again the two black spots at the base of the hind wing.
Little Yellow.
The Sleepy Orange is a medium-sized sulphur recognizable in flight (with practice) by the special color of orange on its upperside, roughly, the color of the flower petal behind this one's head. When landed, it can be identified by a line of brown through the wing.
The upperside color is constant, but the underside changes with the season. This is the winter form. You can still (with a little imagination) make out the brown stripe at a sort of diagonal through the middle of the hind wing.
The Sleepy Orange (in common with many of the sulphurs) occasionally comes in a white form. The brown line is still sort of there.
Here is a Sleepy Orange caterpillar (it has just moulted) on senna.
A full-grown Sleepy Orange caterpillar.
It is affixing itself to a stalk before shedding into its pupal skin.
Here is the typical sulphur chrysalis.
A day before eclosing, it becomes transparent. Now you can see the distinctive orange color of the upper wings. You are looking at a front wing which has a black border around it. Note the separate spot within the orange, not so much a spot as a short line. Many of the sulphurs have a round spot on the upper forewing at that position. It looks somewhat like an eye spot. Because on this species it is a dash instead of a dot, it is like a closed eye. Hence the name, Sleepy Orange.
The Sleepy Orange eclosed. On this one the brown line is there, but you have to look hard to see it.
The last Pierid species on the Ridge is the delicate tiny Dainty Sulphur.
These fly slowly and very low to the ground. They are noticeably smaller than a Little Yellow, and have a black bar on the upper wing visible in flight.
Often they are scarce through most of the summer, then late in the season suddenly appear in the hundreds over flowery fields or, especially, agricultural crops. For another species of Pierid, see the album "Other Arkansas Butterflies."
