Colias erate

Colias erate, the eastern pale clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found from south-eastern Europe, through Turkey over central Asia up to Japan and Taiwan. To the south, its range stretches to Somalia and Ethiopia. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1805.[1] [2]

Eastern pale clouded yellow
C. e. poliographus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Colias
Species:
C. erate
Binomial name
Colias erate
(Esper, 1805)
Synonyms
  • Papilio erate Esper, 1803
  • Colias electo ab. kostlani Strand, 1911
  • Colias erate marnoana f. solilucis Berger, 1953
  • Colias erate marnoana f. androides Storace, 1956
  • Colias neriene Fischer von Waldheim, 1823
  • Colias afghana O. Bang-Haas, 1927
  • Colias albida Rühl, 1893
  • Colias androconiata Jachontov, 1910
  • Colias beckeri Gerhard, 1882
  • Colias erate edusoides Verity, 1908
  • Colias erate benesignata Sheljuzhko, 1913
  • Colias chryseis Röber, 1907
  • Colias chrysodona Boisduval, 1840
  • Colias chrysohyaleoides Verity, 1908
  • Colias chrysopallida Verity, 1908
  • Colias chrysothemoides Verity, 1908
  • Colias citronea Mezger, 1932
  • Colias conjuncta Verity, 1908
  • Colias costaenigrata Mezger, 1932
  • Colias diffusa Verity, 1908
  • Colias flavomaculata Mezger, 1932
  • Colias garica Verity, 1911
  • Colias helichta Lederer, 1853
  • Colias helichta Talbot, 1935
  • Colias erate erate f. androconiata Jachontov, 1910
  • Colias hyaleoides Grum-Grshimailo, 1890
  • Colias erate ab. maculigena Avinoff, 1910
  • Colias pallida Staudinger, 1861
  • Colias parva Rühl, 1893
  • Colias semifaillaei Pionneau, 1928
  • Colias unimaculata Pionneau, 1928
  • Colias chrysocoma Grum-Grshimailo, 1893
  • Colias hera Grum-Grshimailo, 1893
  • Colias erate gigantea Verity, 1911
  • Colias erate tania Hemming, 1933
  • Colias glicia Fruhstorfer, 1910
  • Colias kachgarica Verity, 1911
  • Colias poliographus Motschulsky, 1860
  • Colias simoda de l'Orza, 1869
  • Colias immamis Verity, 1911
  • Colias murina Fruhstorfer, 1910
  • Colias napata Fruhstorfer, 1910
  • Colias pyxagathus Fruhstorfer, 1910
  • Colias hyale zuzuki Matsumura, 1908
  • Colias tokotana Bryk, 1942

The wingspan is 23–26 mm. The butterfly flies in May to September in two generations.

The larvae feed on various Fabaceae species, such as Medicago sativa and Medicago, Trifolium, Onobrychis and Melilotus species.

Subspecies
  • C. e. erate (Ukraine, Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kirhizia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan)
  • C. e. amdensis Verity, 1911 (China: Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan)
  • C. e. marnoana Rogenhofer, 1884 (Sudan, Ethiopia, south-western Arabia)
  • C. e. sinensis Verity, 1911 (Mandschuria, North Korea)
  • C. e. formosana Shirôzu, 1955 (Taiwan)
  • C. e. lativitta Moore, 1882 (Nepal, northern India)
  • C. e. poliographus Motschulsky, 1860 (Mongolia, Japan, Amur, Ussuri, Sakhalin, Tian Shan)
  • C. e. tomarias Bryk, 1942 (Kuriles)
  • C. e. naukratis Fruhstorfer, 1909 (Altai, southern Siberia, Transbaikalia)
  • C. e. nilagiriensis C. & R. Felder, 1859 (southern India)

Description
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

Frederic Moore (1882) gives a detailed description for C. e. lativitta:

Male. Yellow: fore wing with a broad unspotted blackish band,the inner border of which is angulated inward at the upper median vein; the band very sparsely yellow-speckled on the anterior veins; discocellular spot large, black: hind wing with a broad blackish crenulated band and a large orange-yellow discocellular spot. Underside olivaceous yellow: fore wing with a black discocellular spot and a distinct discal row of spots: hind wing with a moderate-sized dull pearly-white red-bordered discocellular spot.

Female. Yellow, or white; the band on fore wing broader than in male, and with not very prominent upper and lower yellow spots; the discocellular spot distinct: hind wing darker, with broad marginal band traversed inwardly by large ill-defined yellow spots; discocellular spot brighter red.

Expanse 1 5/8 to 2 2/8 inches.

— Frederic Moore[3]
  • C. e. erate Ventral view (male)
  • C. e. erate Dorsal view (male)
  • C. e. erate Ventral view (female)
  • From Japan
  • Feeding on nectar of Rhododendron albrechtii

Cited references
  1. Savela, Markku. "Colias erate (Esper, 1805)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  2. Varshney, R.K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi. p. 23. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
  3. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain: Moore, Frederic (1882). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. p. 255.


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