[2] Some authors treat this as a subspecies of the eastern pale clouded yellow (C. erate)[3] while others consider it on the basis of its geographic isolatation as a phylogenetically distinct species Colias nilagiriensis.

Closely resembles typical hyale, but as it is isolated in the hills of Southern India it has acquired a distinguishable general appearance.

Underside : fore wing white, apex broadly greenish yellow; disco-cellular and postdiscal spots as in hyale.

Southern India : the Nilgiri and Palani Hills and Travancore, at 5000 feet.It is found in Shola forests, which are subtropical rainforests in the valleys of tall meadows in the Western Ghats.

Therefore, it has a range from Kudremukha in central Karnataka, to Coorg, Wayanad, Nilgiris, and down to Silent Valley National Park, to the Anamalais.