The Orange Sulphur is a widespread and familiar butterfly across North America, commonly seen in open habitats like fields, roadsides, and meadows. It’s relatively small, with bright yellow-orange wings lightly dusted with blue-brown spots and edged in a delicate pink border. Females often have small white or silvery spots on the underside of their wings, adding to their subtle beauty.

 

Orange Sulphur – Blanket Flower“, by Ken Slade, licensed under (CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

Orange Sulphur Facts

Butterfly Family: Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)

Butterfly Subfamily: Coliadinae

Butterfly Wingspan: 1 3/8 – 2 3/4 inches

Butterfly Habitat: A wide variety of open sites, especially clover and alfalfa fields, mowed fields, vacant lots, meadows, and road edges

 

🪴 Host Plants

These are the plants where females lay eggs and caterpillars feed:

  • Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

  • Clover (Trifolium spp.)

  • Garden Vetch (Vicia sativa)

  • Vetch (Vicia spp.)

  • Wild Indigo (Baptisia spp.)

 

🌸 Nectar Plants

Adult Orange Sulphur butterflies feed on nectar from a variety of native flowers:

  • Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.)

  • Blazing Star (Liatris spp.)

  • Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

  • Clover (Trifolium spp.)

  • Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

  • Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)

  • Ironweed (Vernonia spp.)

  • Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum)

  • Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum spp.)

  • Phlox (Phlox paniculata or P. divaricata)

  • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

  • Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

  • Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium)

  • Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)