Orange and Clouded Sulphurs

[Bill Lamond]

Hi,

With the way the weather has been the last month it is not surprising that these two sulphur species are still on the wing. It is my experience that they are usually observed in the first week of November. These species are tough and seem to fly until there is a killing frost, of which there have been none around Hamilton this fall. This evening (13 November) could test them but I think a few will survive. Today (12 Nov) I saw at least a dozen sulphurs flying briskly around the Powerline Rd stormwater ponds in Paris. This was in 8^oC temps but it was sunny. Most of these were Orange Sulphurs. I saw two Clouded Sulphurs for sure. There was one individual of which I was uncertain of the ID. I thought it was a Clouded but I was not convinced. I managed to catch it with my hat and took the hand-held photo here. It is obviously an Orange Sulphur. Sometimes it takes a close look to discern the species. I also saw two white-morph female sulphurs of uncertain ID.

I note in The Butterflies of Point Pelee National Park: A Seasonal Guide and Checklist (Wormington 1998) that there are records for Orange Sulphur at Pelee on 26 November. Perhaps there may be some very late season records this year?

Bill

[HowieH]

Yesterday (Nov 18) at Downsview Park I saw well over a dozen clouded and orange sulphurs along the path above and east of the large pond. They were nectaring on New England asters and even some goldenrod that is still blooming in that area of the park. Many of them, especially the orange sulphurs, looked very fresh. Could this be a case of butterflies that would normally emerge next spring getting fooled by the weather??