Colias tyche

Hostplant: Astragalus alpinus. The larva also accepted Astragalus glycyphyllos in captivity. I started out using A.alpinus and changed over to A.glycyphyllos when i didn't have more A.alpinus left. The larva did not have any problems with it. A few sources online mentions Vaccinium uliginosum as a possible hostplant. The adult female did not want to lay any eggs on it, and the larva did not start feeding when i tried it.

Lifecycle and behavior: The female easily laid eggs on fresh A.alpinus. As with Colias hecla, the eggs changed color from yellow to red during development. The eggs used 5-6 days to hatch. The larva seemed to prefer eating the leaves of the hostplant through its development, but did also eat the flowers and seedpods. The larval stages lasted 3,5-4 weeks, and it molted 4 times. The pupal stage lasted a week. In the wild the larva hibernates at least once, and it can also hibernate a second time as pupa. In my breeding one larva went all the way to adult the same year. The rest of the larva hibernated as full grown L5. After hibernation the larva pupated right away.

The butterfly is an arctic species confined to the 3 northern most states in Norway. Depending on the weather, its usually on the wing from June to July.

Note: The Scandinavian populations are regarded as ssp. werdandi.