The Pierdae family of whites (Pierdae) and sulphers (Coliadinae) refer to butterflies with predominantly white and yellow or orange wings and they are common all over the US. There are around 30 species of white butterfly found in the US, including species like the cabbage white commonly seen in your garden garden. Most species of Coliadinae are large with a 2- or 3-inch wingspan, except for the dainty sulpher, with a 1-inch wingspan. There are 10 genera of yellow butterfly species of which about half belong to the genus Colias.
Three types of butterfly belong to the family Lycaenidae, which are blue butterflies, copper butterflies and hairstreaks. There are 50 species of blue butterflies found in the U.S., which share many of the same characteristics, so you could have some difficulty distinguishing individual species. The 16 species of coppers are mainly found in the Western states and it is hard to distinguish them from some blue butterfly species. You can distinguish the hairstreak species by a small protruding hair at the bottom of the tail. They are a small butterfly of which there are about a dozen genera and exist in a range of habitats in high altitudes and at sea level.
The front pair of legs of all brush-footed butterflies is shorter than the other legs, a distinguishing factor of this family. You can recognize many species by their orange colored wings. There are nine sub-families of brushfoots including admirals, leafwings and monarchs. Other brushfoot species include banded peacocks, common buckeye, green and gray comma, red admirals and painted lady. Brushfoot are a widespread family of butterfly species in America and you can see them in many residential areas.
The majority of Hesperiidae are skippers of which there are 5 sub-families and 90 % of species are either spread-wing skippers or grass skippers identifiable from their resting wing position. Spreadwing skippers always keep wings open when resting. Species include common mellana, two-banded skipper and duskywings (more than 150 species) with a white border at the base of its wings.You can see common spreadwing skippers throughout the Southwest. Common winged skippers are easily located in most states and is what you may recognize as the "common butterfly."
