Colias erate (Esper, 1805)

Host plants:
The larvae feed especially on Medicago varia and related species of this genus, but presumably also on further Fabaceae like Lotus sp. or Coronilla varia.

Habitat:
Colias erate inhabits dry and warm habitats in the open landscape like steppe grasslands, agricultural land with alfalfa and nutrient-poor meadows.

Life cycle:
The butterflies occur in several generations between April and November. The larva hibernates. The adults are usually found in alfalfa fields. Oviposition most often occurs on the upper side of leaflets near tips or into the tips themselves of young stems of Medicago sativa (5-30 cm height) in fields which have been mown 1-3 weeks before. In the flowering field usually only nectaring and mating occur.

The development is very rapid when temperatures are high. Above 25 degrees centigrade I observed only 21-25 days from oviposition to the eclosion (3-4 days egg, 8 days pupal stage). The mature larvae are characterized by a white, yellow and orange coloured lateral stripe. Often there are additionally black spots below this stripe.

Remarks:
The eastern steppe species occurs from Hungary and adjacent countries (to the south to NE-Greece) across the steppe belt to E-Asia. Around the turn of the millennium it had expanded westward to E-Germany (e.g. Saxony, Brandenburg) and Austria (especially Lower Austria, Vienna and Burgenland), but seems to have withdrawn from there in the meanwhile (except for straying individuals).