The Tailed Orange is a North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the family Pieridae

Pieridae

The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...

.

Description

The upper side of the wings is orange with a variable amount of black along the fore wing costa. The wing veins are lightly marked with black in summer individuals, and winter individuals have no black veins. Males reflect UV light

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

 on their upper sides, and some females can be white. The underside of the wings varies depending on the season. Summer individuals are yellow-orange with the hind wing slightly pointed. Winter individuals are brown with darker brown markings with the hind wing being much more pointed. The wingspan measures 1¼ to 1¾ inches.

Similar species

The only similar species in the Tailed Orange's range is the Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe

Eurema nicippe

The Sleepy Orange is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae.-Description:For a key to the terms used, see Lepidopteran glossary...

).

The Sleepy Orange has a black fore wing cell spot on the upper side, the upper side of the hind wing has a black marginal border, and the hind wing is not pointed.

Habitat

The Tailed Orange lives in a variety of open habitats such as open woodlands, deserts, and subtropical habitats.

Flight

This species may be found from mid-July to early January in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, from August to November in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and all year round in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Life cycle

Males patrol all day in search of females. The larva

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

 is bright yellow-green with a yellow lateral stripe.

Host plants

Here is a list of host plants used by the Tailed Orange:

• Cassia texana
• Chamaecrista
  Chamaecrista
  Chamaecrista is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Members of the genus are commonly known as sensitive pea. Several species are capable of rapid plant movement.-Selected species:...
  
  sp.
• Desmodium
  Desmodium
  Desmodium is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time....
  
  sp.
• Prosopis reptans
• Senna chamaecrista