Family Pieridae

Caterpillar food: low-growing plants in the Compositae – aster family  (Bugguide)

This tiny butterfly doesn’t overwinter in Wisconsin – it flies up from farther south.  It’s wingspan  – with wings spread – is about one inch.  It’s the smallest North American sulphur.   It’s not common here – I’ve only seen it a few times.  I saw several during the summer of 2007, and even more in the summer of 2012.

This was the first one I ever saw – in Pepin County, on the roadside in front of the farm stand where we’d stopped to buy produce.

7/25/2007

That fall I saw quite a few Dainty Sulphurs on our driveway – never more than a few at a time, but they were there nearly every sunny day until the weather got cold.

10/7/2007 – on our driveway at the farm

 

The next time I found Dainty Sulphurs was in late August 2012.  There were at least 5 or 6 fluttering around our driveway, near the house.

9/6/2012

 

9/8/2012

 

9/9/2012