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Colotis pennaria

(Feathered Thorn Moth)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Dutch:

Gepluimde Spanner

Common Names in English:

Feathered Thorn, Feathered Thorn Moth

Common Names in Hungarian:

Tollascsápú Araszoló

Description

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Family Pieridae

'The Pieridae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, most species are found in the tropics. Adults have medium to small wings that are white, yellow, or orange, with some black or red, and many have hidden ultraviolet patterns that are used in courtship . Species with more than one generation usually have distinct seasonal variation in appearance . Adults of all species visit flowers for nectar, and adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs . Males patrol in search of receptive mates, and females lay columnar eggs on leaves, buds, and stems. The majority of caterpillars of North American whites and sulphurs feed on legumes or crucifers (members of the Mustard family ). Typically, temperate species overwinter in the pupal or larval stage , while tropical species overwinter as adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Pierinae

Whites, marbles, and orangetips are members of the Family Pieridae. In North America, 31 species are included . Adults of most species are predominantly white above with some black pattern elements , and their hindwings often have a pattern of yellow and black scales that appear green. Sexes of most species are only slightly dimorphic , though male orangetips have bright orange wingtips. Nearly all adults are avid flower visitors. The males of almost all North American species patrol open, sunny habitats for females, although males of some tropical whites (e.g. Mexican Dartwhite) perch along ravines . Caterpillars of most western whites feed on mustards, though some use capers and others, pineneedles. All species overwinter in the chrysalis stage, and some orangetips and marbles may pass several unfavorable years in the chrysalis stage before hatching .[2]

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 389 meters (0 to 1,276 feet).[3]

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Colotois pennaria (Linnaeus 1761)

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Colotis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 4 species and subspecies in this genus:

C. eris (Banded Gold Tip) · C. ione (Purple Tip) · C. pennaria (Feathered Thorn Moth) · C. protomedia (Yellow Splendour)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 29, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=15&sci=Pieridae&com=Whites and Sulphurs [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Creusa&search=Search [back]
  3. Mean = 110.770 meters (363.419 feet), Standard Deviation = 118.780 based on 75 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/23/2012