PAINTED YELLOW Eurema elathea flavescens FAUNA PARAGUAY

Eurema elathea flavescens (Chavannes 1850)
ENG: Painted Yellow
ESP: Limoncito adornado
JIZ: Small size and distinctly rounded wings. Strong sexual dimorphism. Poses with wings folded. FLI: Fluttery, weak and erratic.
UPP: M (Fig 1) Forewing mostly lemon yellow with broad black apex and outer margin reaching postmedial region. Posterior margin of forewing thinly orange, parallel with broader black submarginal line that begins basally but is not continuous with black of outer margin. Smudgy blackish subcostal line begins basally and is continuous with black apex, though less defined. Hindwing white with broad but smudgy blackish or brownish-black outer margin. Anal margin white. F (Fig 2) Forewing pale yellow with broad black apex extending about three-quarters down outer margin. Hindwing whitish or pale yellow with smudgy black streaking along outer margin. Anal margin white.
UND: M (Fig 1) Almost uniformly pale whitish, sometimes with a slight yellowish tinge and often with the upperwing pattern visible as a "ghost image". F (Fig 2) Uniformly pale yellowish-white with indistinct black "colon" on hindwing. Yellow sometimes deeper and more prominent towards costa of forewing.
BOD: Upperside of head brownish-grey. Upper thorax black. Upperside of abdomen lemon-white with thin black medial line. Underside of head and thorax pale yellow, underside of abdomen whitish. Antennae black with brownish clubs. Eyes green. Legs pale yellow-white.
MMT: A tiny Coliadinid. CL - 15.5mm; BL - 11.5mm; AB - 6.5mm; WS - 30mm; HW - 1.5mm; AL - 5.5mm; n=1 (1F).
SSP: Male is unmistakeable - it is the only small Coliadinid with such a bold pattern on the upperside of the wing. Females are more likely to be confused, especially with Eurema deva, Pyritisia leuce and Pyritisa nise. Note however the much paler, washed-out yellow tonation of the upperparts, the vague smudgy streaking on the hindwing and the almost uniformly pale underwing. This species never shows any rusty-coloured markings on the underwing.
HAB: Open, scrubby areas, gardens and grasslands.
HOS: Plants in the family Fabaceae including Arachis, Calliandra, Glycine, Senna and Zornia. (Canals 2003).
Citable Reference: Smith P (2007) FAUNA Paraguay Online Handbook of Paraguayan Fauna Butterfly Species Account 8 Eurema elathea.
Last Updated: 5 September 2007.
References:
Canals G 2003 Mariposas de Misiones - LOLA, Buenos Aires.