Dark Clouded Yellow or Common Clouded Yellow - Colias croceus (Geoffroy, 1785) - Cyprus

See also - List of butterflys of Cyprus - Λίστα των πεταλούδων της Κύπρου

Family: Pieridae

Colias croceus is a small butterfly of the Pieridae family, that is, the Yellows and Whites. In India and nearby regions it is known as the Dark Clouded Yellow or Common Clouded Yellow to distinguish it from the other species of clouded yellows occurring there; elsewhere it is often simply known as the clouded yellow, as it was the first and original butterfly to go by this name.

The Common Clouded Yellow's breeding range is North Africa and southern Europe and eastwards through Turkey into the Middle East but it occurs throughout much of Europe as a summer migrant, in good years individuals reaching Scandinavia. In Asia, its range extends into central Siberia in the north and barely into India in the south; it is not found in Central Asia. In the UK they can be seen on the south coast almost every year in varying numbers, and regularly breed there. Occurrence in the rest of the UK varies considerably from year to year, but they are increasingly observed as far north as Dumfries and Galloway.

It has also been recorded in Ireland from the Raven, Co. Wexford.

A truly migratory European butterfly, this species is famous for occasional mass migrations and subsequent breeding, which are often referred to in the United Kingdom as "clouded yellow years". Notable clouded yellow years include 1877, 1947, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000.

In southern Europe and North Africa they breed continuously throughout the year. Eggs are laid singly on food plant leaves. The caterpillars grow fast in warm weather, sometimes pupating within a month. Pupation lasts for two or three weeks and in good years there can be as many as three generations per year, with adults still on the wing at the beginning of November.

Common Clouded Yellows feed on a variety of leguminous plants, namely Faboideae. In the UK wild and cultivated clovers (Trifolium) and Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are favourites; less frequently, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus is eaten.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Agios Sozomenos 10/10/2014 by George Konstantinou