Tag Archives: orange barred sulphur butterfly

My sunshine

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This morning we had two rays of sunshine emerge from their chrysalis in our butterfly house. The larger of the two was not interested in having its photo taken. As soon as I put my finger inside, it crawled on and then took flight right away. The sulphur was absolutely stunning as it spread its gorgeous wings.

The one below hung out with my daughter and I for a while, before I put it on one of the zinnia flowers I grew from seed. It eventually flew to the roof and sat for a while before it flew away.

I absolutely love the sulphur butterflies. The yellow is so bright and sunny, leaving you smiling. They remind me of my daughter, as I have sung her “You are my Sunshine,” since she was a baby.

Vibrant yellow

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We had an orange barred sulphur emerge in our butterfly house. I am awe of the vibrant yellow, which when the sun hits the wings just right, shows a beautiful hue of orange as well.

The best part is my Bahama cassia, its host plant is crawling with caterpillars of every instar at the current moment.

Meet the orange barred sulphur

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This beauty, the orange barred sulphur, emerged in the butterfly house yesterday and remained in the garden for a long time after flying free.

Its host plant is the Christmas cassia, candle plant and the Bahama cassia. I have the Bahama cassia in the garden. I bought it as a small tree for $5 from a native plant sale. It has almost tripled in size, and thankfully survived Hurricane Ian with a little help.

The butterfly’s wingspan is 65 to 55 mm and can be found throughout the southern portion of Florida. The females are larger in size than the male.

The male has a brighter yellow coloring with a bright orange bar. The hindwing has orange edges. The female, on the other hand, can be creamy white during the summer months, and golden yellow during the winter months with a suffused orange/red outer edge of its hindwing. The females do not have the orange bar coloring.

I have read that this butterfly was established in Florida in 1920. These beauties can be seen year round, although they are an uncommon sight at the Panhandle of Florida.