Dainty Sulphur - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Butterfly: Wingspan: ¾ - 1¼ inches (1.9-2.54 cm) UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Lemon yellow with black forewing tips and a black bar along forewing edge. Males have a scent patch within the dark hindwing bar that is orange/red. Females have orange-yellow hindwings with more extensive black markings. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Hindwings yellow with greenish markings. Winter forms are more heavily pigmented and tend to look gray/green when wings are closed.

Egg: Yellow spindles; laid singly on host plant.

Caterpillar: Green with thin yellow stripe along bottom or green with rosy-purple stripes. Stripe width varies. Head green. Slender.

Chrysalis: Small and green. Head rounded rather than pointed.

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Dainty Sulphurs are our smallest yellow butterflies. Although they are tiny, they are excellent colonizers. In fact, by late summer they often migrate northward and eastward to cover most of the continental United States. Dainty Sulphurs have come to be "expected" in Alabama by late summer. They may wander in from the Southwest (a population stronghold) or from Florida, which they colonized in the early 1900's from the Caribbean.

Dainty Sulphurs are easily overlooked. Males fly only inches off the ground as they patrol in search of mates. Females often sit motionless, deep within vegetation, except when nectaring or ovipositing. Their host plant choices are not typical for sulphurs. Rather than using legumes, Dainty Sulphur caterpillars eat plants that are members of the Aster family, as well as Green Carpetweed, an introduced, weedy annual that belongs to the Carpetweed family. Although Dainties somewhat resemble Barred Yellows, their elongated forewing shape and their host plant choices make them unique among the sulphurs.

Dainty Sulphurs are unable to survive prolonged freezing temperatures. As days become shorter, caterpillars produce winter-form butterflies that have three times the amount of melanistic (dark) wing scales. These darker wings absorb solar heat more efficiently. In the fall, both seasonal color forms may be seen in Alabama.

A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.

The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.

The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.

The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.

Sightings in the following counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Chambers, Chilton, Clarke, Colbert, Covington, Dallas, Escambia, Greene, Houston, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Mobile, Monroe, Perry, Pickens, Shelby, Sumter, Winston

Sightings in the past 5 years
Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

200 - Lamar - 8/1/2019
51 - Lamar - 8/3/2019
22 - Chilton - 10/13/2023

View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names

Jan				Feb				Mar				Apr				May				Jun				Jul				Aug				Sep				Oct				Nov				Dec
1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
											1	1									1		1	6	24	1	2	257	7	8	21	7	49	15	15	41	53	8	19	2	4	2	9	1			1

Open areas with low growing plants that include roadsides, vacant lots, farmlands, utility easements, coastal flats, riverbanks, and waste areas.

Reports from nearby states list various bidens in the Aster family (Asteraceae) and Green Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata) in the Carpetweed family (Molluginaceae). Spanish Needles (Bidens alba) is commonly chosen in Florida.

The following has been documented in Alabama:

Green Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata) - Host Plant

For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.

Natural lawns that contain small flowering plants like clover, frogfruit, and violets provide nectar and host plant sources for many small butterflies, including Dainty Sulphurs. Green Carpetweed, a confirmed Alabama host plant, is often a component of naturalized lawns.

Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) Photos

Click on individual photos to view a larger version that includes photo credits, county, and date.
Photos with comments are indicated by a small, tan dot on the bottom right.