Tailed Sulphur

Phoebis neocypris · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Tailed Sulphur
Photo: desertnaturalist, CC BY

It lives naturally in Mexico, Central America and South America, with an occasional stray seen in southern Texas. Its caterpillars eat fresh leaves of Cassia plants.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Phoebis neocypris belongs to the butterfly family Pieridae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 4 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, Kansas, California.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

More photos

Tailed Sulphur photo 3
Photo: Eduardo Luis Beltrocco, CC BY

Questions people ask

What do tailed sulphur caterpillars eat?

The caterpillars feed on fresh leaves of Cassia plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Pieridae)

Small WhiteSmall WhitePieris rapaeGreen-veined WhiteGreen-veined WhitePieris napiOrange SulphurOrange SulphurColias eurythemeDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon BrimstoneCommon BrimstoneGonepteryx rhamniLarge WhiteLarge WhitePieris brassicaeDamages trees, gardens or cropsCloudless SulphurCloudless SulphurPhoebis sennae

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebis_neocypris

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 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.