Large orange sulphur
Phoebis agarithe
The large orange sulphur is a big, bright orange butterfly. It loves sunny, open places like gardens, parks and road edges. It is a busy flower visitor with favourite flowers like lantana and hibiscus.
Lives in
From Peru up to southern Texas and Florida, and brought to Hawaii
Wingspan
5.7 to 8.6 cm (2.2 to 3.4 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Grown-ups drink nectar from flowers like lantana, bougainvillea and hibiscus. Caterpillars eat fresh leaves of some tropical trees.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 2.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 21 seconds
How big is Large orange sulphur compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Large orange sulphur about 18 km/h (11 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In the tropics it can be seen flying all year round.
2
In southern Texas it flies only in August and September.
3
Now and then one strays far north, as far as Colorado or New Jersey.
4
People brought it to Hawaii, where it now lives too.
you asked
Most asked questions about Large orange sulphur
?What flowers does the large orange sulphur like?
Lantana, bougainvillea, hibiscus, Turk's cap and other bright flowers.
?How big is the large orange sulphur?
Its wings measure about 6 to 9 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Phoebis agarithe
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Pieridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pieridae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Phoebis agarithe (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Gonzalo Zepeda Martínez. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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