The Sleepy Orange is a small, vivid orange sulphur with a distinctive small black diagonal bar on the underside forewing that resembles a closed eye — inspiring its common name. It is multi-brooded and common in fields and roadsides across the South, migrating northward in summer. The dry-season form is more heavily mottled below than the wet-season form.
Best time to see a Sleepy Orange
The best time to see a Sleepy Orange is July–October, when about 61% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 30,224 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
Not certain it is a Sleepy Orange? What bug is this? walks through what to check first and the lookalikes that catch people out.
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