David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
________________________________________________________________________________Butterflies
1 – Clouded Yellows
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias
croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus
CLOUDED
YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus (f)
var. helice
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY Colias croceus (f) var. helice
- The typical form Clouded Yellow Colias croceus has a rich orange-yellow ground colour on the upperside
of the wings and the only likely confusion in the UK would be with the
lemon/sulphur-yellow male Brimstone Butterfly Gonepteryx
rhamni (a resident species illustrated
elsewhere on this site). The earliest Clouded Yellows observed in the UK each
year that they arrive will have migrated from the Continent. If there are
enough of them and conditions prove to be favourable there will be another
generation of native-bred butterflies that will either return south or
(with perhaps just a few exceptions) perish during the winter months as
they cannot normally survive at any stage of their development. Some
Clouded Yellows probably reach the South coast during most years but sporadically
they arrive in much greater numbers and these events have traditionally
been described as ‘Clouded Yellow Years’, for example 1947 and 1983.
These events were only occasional until the end of the 20th
Century, since when their frequency has noticeably increased, this
modified behaviour almost certainly being a consequence of anthropogenic
climate change. On the Continent there may be much greater difficulty
associated with separating C. croceus from other members of the Colias genus, particularly Berger's Clouded Yellow C. alfacariensis and Pale Clouded Yellow C. hyale. Although the ground colour
of these butterflies is much paler it cannot be seen when the wings are
closed fully if the sun is shining from behind the observer unless the
forewings are raised. For this reason, it is recommended that photographs
should be taken in this way so that the images may be labelled accurately!
The uppersides are normally only visible in
flight or when courtship behaviour is being exhibited because each of
these butterflies habitually rests with their wings closed. When back-lit
the colours will become more apparent. The ‘Clouded’ refers to the black
markings present along their wing-margins, but these are again only
clearly visible with back-lighting or when the butterflies have taken to
the air. There are differences between the upperside
markings of the sexes (females have ground colour spots inside the clouded
areas), but these again will only be evident if the wings are opened or
the butterfly is back-lit. However, the pale female helice form of the Clouded Yellow is easy to separate from the typical
form (provided that Pale Clouded Yellow and Berger’s Clouded Yellow
Butterflies are absent from the area as they are all difficult to tell
apart!). Fortunately, in the case of the female var. helice shown in the final two
photographs another (poor quality) image was obtained of the butterfly
with its wings open and therefore it was possible to obtain an unequivocal
identification as the range overlaps with that of the very similar Berger's
Clouded Yellow in the part of Tuscany, Italy where
the butterfly was found. Another possible confusion species, the Pale Clouded
Yellow
is absent from the area.
- David’s short
films of Clouded Yellow Butterflies may be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlMR8raKxnk&list=PL4AirIEc0NofhDbxohAG_PoMc7P2iGR5N&index=15&t=0s and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHG4zngLmOk&list=PL4AirIEc0NofhDbxohAG_PoMc7P2iGR5N&index=79&t=0s.
RECOMMENDED
READING:
There are
numerous butterfly publications available and this list can never be kept
entirely up-to-date so some may now be out of print! Amongst the very best are:
- 'The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland' Volume 7, Part 1, edited by A. Maitland Emmet, John Heath, Harley
Books, 1989 ISBN 0 946589 25 9
- 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland', Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington, Dorling Kindersley published
in association with the National Trust, 1991. ISBN 0-86318-591-6,
republished extended edition by British Wildlife Publishing 2010 ISBN
978-0-9564902-0-9.
- 'Collins Field Guide Butterflies of Britain and Europe', Tom Tolman and Richard Lewington, HarperCollins, 1997. ISBN 0 00
219992 0
- 'Collins Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe', Michael Chinery, 1998. ISBN 0 00 220059
7
- 'Butterflies of Surrey', Graham
A. Collins, Surrey Wildlife Trust, 1995. ISBN 0 9526065 0 X.
- 'British Wildlife', British Wildlife
Publishing/NHBS Ltd., ISSN 0958-0956 contains regular butterfly reports.
- 'The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland', Jim Asher, Martin Warren, Richard Fox, Paul Harding, Gail Jeffcoate, Stephen Jeffcoate,
Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-19-850565-5
- 'Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland', Richard Lewington, British Wildlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN
0-9531399-1-3. This exquisitely illustrated book is ideal for both
beginners and experts alike, with illustrations of all stages of native
British species, migrants and a selection of day-flying moths: http://www.britishwildlife.com/html/books.html. Original artworks and signed proof prints from this book may
still be available from Richard Lewington at: rlewington@btopenworld.com. A catalogue will be provided by the artist on request. Some of
Richard's paintings are displayed annually at the Oxford Museum of Natural
History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW.
- 'Butterflies of Europe', Tristan
Lafranchis, Diatheo,
2006. ISBN 2-9521620-0-X. A field guide and key to European butterflies
with a butterfly-friendly approach (collecting is firmly discouraged!) and
numerous photographs illustrating the differences between species. Tristan
may be contacted at:
lafranch@otenet.gr
- 'British Moths and Butterflies', Chris Manley, A&C Black, 2008. Commissioned from the author
following the publication of the
'Moths of Trigon', this ambitious project contains
over 2,300 photographs of live insects from over 50 contributors including
850 macromoths, 500 micromoths, 74 butterflies,
314 larvae and a selection of over 50 non-lepidopteran species from other
Orders for comparison. This book is intended to appeal to a wide audience
including the non-expert and it has since been expanded and reprinted.
- 'Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other Beneficial Insects', Jan Miller-Klein, Saith Ffynnon Books 2010.
ISBN 978-0-9555388-0-4. Proceeds for Butterfly Conservation.
- ‘Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies’, Peter Eeles, Pisces Publications 2019.
ISBN978-1-894357-88-9.
RECOMMENDED
WEBSITES:
- Butterfly Conservation: https://butterfly-conservation.org/; http://www.european-butterflies.org.uk/
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe: http://www.leps.it/
- Butterflies of France: https://www.butterfliesoffrance.com/
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