Berger's clouded yellow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Berger's clouded yellow
Scientific classification
Genus:	Colias
Species:	alfacariensis
Synonyms
Colias sareptensis Staudinger, 1871 Colias australis Verity, 1911

The Berger's clouded yellow (scientific name: Colias alfacariensis) is a beautiful butterfly. It belongs to the Pieridae family, which includes many yellow and white butterflies. This butterfly was first identified as a separate species in 1905. Before that, people thought it was the same as the pale clouded yellow (C. hyale).

You can find Berger's clouded yellow in many parts of the world. It lives across the Palearctic region. This includes Southern and Central Europe, parts of Russia, Central Asia, and even temperate China. It also lives in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Transcaucasia.

What Does the Berger's Clouded Yellow Look Like?

Butterfly Appearance

Male Berger's clouded yellow butterflies usually have bright yellow wings. Females have greenish-white wings. However, the underside of their hind wings is yellowish. Both male and female butterflies have a dark brown or black band along the edges of their wings. This band is thinner on their hind wings.

On the front wings, both males and females have a black spot. This spot is visible on both the top and bottom sides of the wing. Male butterflies have an orange spot on the top of their hind wings. This spot has a red border. On the underside, this spot is bright and clearly outlined in red. Sometimes, the red border can divide this spot into two parts. This makes it look like the number eight. Other yellow Colias butterflies, like Colias hyale, can also have a similar spot. In females, the orange spot on the top of the hind wings does not have a border.

Caterpillar Differences

It can be tricky to tell the Berger's clouded yellow apart from the pale clouded yellow just by looking at the adult butterflies. But their caterpillars are quite different! After their second molt, the caterpillars of Colias alfacariensis look very different from Colias hyale caterpillars.

Both caterpillars are green. However, the Berger's clouded yellow caterpillar has four bright yellow lines. These lines also have black dots. The pale clouded yellow caterpillar, on the other hand, only has two thin lines on its sides. This makes it much easier to tell them apart.

• 

  Colias alfacariensis female, top view

• 

  Colias alfacariensis female, bottom view

Similar Butterfly Species

The Berger's clouded yellow is very similar to the pale clouded yellow (Colias hyale). These two butterflies are often grouped together because they look so much alike. It's hard to tell them apart just by their appearance. You might get a hint from where they live. But the best way to tell them apart is by looking at their caterpillars.

Other similar species include:

• Colias crocea
• Colias phicomone
• Colias palaeno
• Colias chrysotheme
• Colias erate

Life and Habitat of the Berger's Clouded Yellow

Food and Home

The female Berger's clouded yellow butterfly lays her eggs on specific plants. These plants are called larval food plants. The caterpillars eat these plants to grow. Their favorite food plants are horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and crown vetch (Coronilla varia).

You can find these butterflies in certain types of places. They like dry grasslands and areas with lots of lime in the soil. They also live in dry shrubbery or lightly forested areas. They do not like cool or rainy places.

Flight Seasons

Berger's clouded yellow butterflies usually fly in two main groups, or "generations," each year. You can see them flying in May and June, and then again in August and September. Sometimes, if the weather is good, they can even have three generations. In that case, you might see them flying from May all the way to October. They visit flowers to feed during these times.

Butterfly Migration

Sometimes, the Berger's clouded yellow butterfly travels to new places. It is a rare visitor to southern England. It has also been seen in the North German plain and Denmark. This means they can fly long distances from their usual homes.

Different Types of Berger's Clouded Yellow

There are a few different types, or subspecies, of the Berger's clouded yellow butterfly. These types are found in different regions:

• C. a. vihorlatensis – found in the Carpathians mountains.
• C. a. remota – found in Southern Europe and the Caucasus region.
• C. a. fontainei – found in Armenia, Talysh, and Kopet-Dagh.
• C. a. saissanica – found in Southeastern Kazakhstan.

See also

In Spanish: Colias de Berger para niños