Painted Lady Butterfly
(Vanessa cardui [Linnaeus])

The elegant Painted Lady Butterfly, backlit on a bright summer day displays an array of ravishing color patterns.

Facts: The painted lady is also known as the Thistle Butterfly because the caterpillars like to feed on them and also as the Cosmopolitan because it is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world. Painted lady butterflies live on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. From the deserts of northern Mexico, the painted lady migrates and temporarily colonizes the United States and Canada south of the Arctic. Sometimes, population explosions in Mexico will cause massive northward migrations. Males perch and patrol during the afternoon for females that are ready to mate. In the West males usually perch on shrubs on hilltops, while in the East males perch on bare ground in open areas. Females lay eggs one at a time on the tops of host plant leaves. Caterpillars live in silk nests and eat leaves. Adults hibernate only in the South and in mild winters.