Bug FAQLyside Sulphur
Kricogonia lyside · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
How to recognize it
The underside varies from greenish to bright yellow to almost white.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in open, subtropical scrub habitats.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed exclusively on plants in the family Zygophyllaceae.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Development from egg to adult can be as fast as 13 days. In southern Texas there are three or more generations per year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In southern Texas adults are seen almost year-round. In Arizona they appear from early July to mid-November. Florida records show scattered sightings from July to October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native to North America, the Caribbean and South America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Similar species in its range include Queen Alexandra's sulphur, cloudless sulphur, and statira sulphur.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I see lyside sulphur butterflies?
In southern Texas they are present almost all year; in Arizona from early July to mid-November; in Florida from July to October.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the caterpillars eat?
They feed only on leaves of three Guaiacum species in the Zygophyllaceae family.
Source: Wikipedia
What other butterflies look like the lyside sulphur?
Queen Alexandra's sulphur, cloudless sulphur, and statira sulphur are similar, but Queen Alexandra's has more yellow on the forewing underside and a whitish spot on the hindwing.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kricogonia_lyside
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.