Abaeis nicippe

Sleepy Orange

The sleepy orange is a common desert sulphur that can be found much of the year. The larval food plants are Senna armata (desert senna) and Senna covesii (Coves' cassia). They are avid mudpuddlers, and can be found on the ground nearly as much as at flowers. When they fly past, the deep orange of the dorsal side of the wings really announces that these are not yellow sulphurs, not even Colias eurytheme.

This Abaeis nicippe suprised me. I found it along Cactus Spring Trail, where I'd never seen one before. Possibly just passing through; Senna species are not on the trail to my knowledge but there is Senna covesii in the vicinity, including along highway 74 to the north (at times). April 22, 2017.

The dorsal side of this butterfly is very orange, as the common name implies. These mudpuddlers were at Rattlesnake Canyon in Johnson Valley on October 9, 2022. I happened to catch them with their wings open; they perch with the wings closed.

A sleepy orange, Abaeis nicippe, near Cottonwood Spring in Joshua Tree National Park, an excellent place to find this butterfly. This is the Spring form. March 29, 2009.

Here is a typical fall-flying Abaeis nicippe at the Mojave Preserve. September 18, 2022.

Sleepy Orange - Abaeis or Eurema nicippe

The larva of Abaeis nicippe on one of the hosts, Senna armata. This was given to me by Gordon Pratt and photographed on May 16, 2020. I drove to Yucca Valley for the desert senna.

Senna armata, a caterpillar food plant of the Sleepy Orange - Abaeis or Eurema nicippe

Desert senna, Senna armata, is probably the main food plant for caterpillars of Abaeis nicippe.

Senna covesii, a caterpillar food plant of the Sleepy Orange - Abaeis or Eurema nicippe

Senna covesii is a pretty rare plant in the desert. It's used by Abaeis nicippe as a larval food plant. This was in a patch of plants that sprang up after good rains above Palm Desert.

Another look at Senna covesii. The common name is Coves's cassia, but I usually hear people just say Senna covesii.

About 40-50 of these plants were doing well on a hillside about Palm Desert at 2790' elevation along highway 74. This was September 17, 2023.

Original description of the Sleepy Orange - Abaeis or Eurema nicippe

The description from 1782 by Pieter Cramer was published in parallel Dutch and French, with a separate volume of plates. I love the illustrations. The books are referred to as De uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen, Asia, Africa en America, or just Uitl. Kapellen.