Pollinator
Sleepy orange
Abaeis nicippe
A warm orange sulphur of the South, bordered in black.
- Family
- Pieridae (whites and sulphurs)
- Wingspan
- 1.4 to 2.25 in (3.5 to 5.7 cm)
- Flight season
- Much of the year in the South
- Range
- Southern and central United States
- Caterpillar food
- Partridge pea and sennas
- Conservation
- Secure and widespread
The sleepy orange is a bright orange butterfly edged with black, its name from the small dark mark on the forewing that suggests a closed eye. It is common across the warm South.
It flies through much of the year, wandering north in summer, and gathers at damp ground and open flowers.
Caterpillars feed on partridge pea and sennas; a native partridge pea will host them.
Plants for the sleepy orange
2 caterpillar host plants and 23 documented nectar plants. Pick a role, then narrow with the filters below.
25 plants
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No plants match those filters.
Sources
- Butterflies and Moths of North America ↗
- iNaturalist ↗
- Plant associations from GloBI flower-visit records and NPIN larval-host data. Butterfly photographs via iNaturalist (CC BY).