Arctic Sulphur vs Bicolored Pennant Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Arctic Sulphur Bicolored Pennant Ant
Scientific Name Colias nastes Tetraponera rufonigra
Order Lepidoptera Hymenoptera
Family Pieridae Formicidae
Size 36-46 mm wingspan 6-10 mm
Habitat Tundra & Arctic Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Arctic Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Rocky Mountain alpine zones India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Arctic Sulphur

A pale greenish-white butterfly with dusky wing margins and small dark discal spots. Its subdued coloration helps it absorb warmth while basking with wings spread. It rarely strays far from its alpine or arctic habitat.

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Did You Know?

On overcast days, this butterfly can raise its body temperature 10 degrees above air temperature by basking laterally to maximize solar absorption.

Bicolored Pennant Ant

A large, slender arboreal ant with a painful sting found across tropical Asia. Workers are bicolored with an orange head and thorax and a black gaster. They nest in hollow twigs and bamboo stems and are agile jumpers.

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Did You Know?

Their sting is notoriously painful and is compared to a wasp sting, unusual for such a slender ant.