Bug FAQStatira Sulphur
Aphrissa statira · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Statira sulphur butterflies have a wingspan of about 6 to 8 cm and the males show ridged androconial scales on the upper side of their wings, while females are a lighter yellow-green with black borders at the wing tips. They live from southern Florida and Texas through Central America down to southern Brazil and northern Argentina, favoring tropical scrubs, gardens, fields and forest edges.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Male Statira sulphur butterflies have ridged androconial scales on the upper surface of their wings. Female Statira sulphur are lighter yellow-greenish with black borders at the wing apex and outer margin.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Males are often seen on river edges and other open spaces.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults sip nectar, preferring red-orange flowers such as scarlet bush and lantana.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There are usually two or three broods each year. When they pupate, the chrysalis is gray to pale blue-green.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In Florida many flights occur from June through February.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
In the United States they occur in southern Florida and Texas. Their range extends south through Central America to southern Brazil and northern Argentina.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do adult Statira sulphur butterflies feed on?
Adults feed on nectar from red-orange flowers such as scarlet bush and lantana.
Source: Wikipedia
How many generations does Statira sulphur have each year?
They usually produce two or three broods per year.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphrissa_statira
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.