Colias alfacariensis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Colias alfacariensis, Berger's clouded yellow, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It was separated from the pale clouded yellow, C. hyale, in 1905. Berger's clouded yellow is a Palearctic species (South and Central Europe, South Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia, Central Asia and temperate China also Asia Minor, Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
The wings of the male have a yellow ground colour, the females have a greenish-white ground colour, only the underside of the hind wings is yellowish. The upper wing side of both sexes has a dusted dark brown to black marginal band, which is only narrow on the hind wings. In the cell of the forewings there is a black spot on the upper and lower sides. The males have on the upperside of the hind wings in the cell an orange spot with a red border, on the underside this spot is bright and clearly outlined in red. This spot may be divided into two by the red border, so that it resembles an eight similar to Colias hyale and other yellow members of the genus Colias. In the females, the orange spot on the top of the hind wings is not bordered.
The caterpillars, on the other hand, clearly differ from the caterpillars of Colias hyale... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Berger's Clouded Yellow sighting in Sierra Nevada National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 390th most-seen of the 479 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Berger's Clouded Yellow in Sierra Nevada National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May and August–February, the lowest months. That is one of Sierra Nevada National Park's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 30 mm in July.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Berger's Clouded Yellow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Berger's Clouded Yellow sightings, Sierra Nevada National Park ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mercantour National Park (France, about 10%), Picos de Europa National Park (Spain, about 10%) and Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Berger's Clouded Yellow is recorded against all the insects logged in Sierra Nevada National Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
