American Painted Lady, Painted Beauty, Virginia Lady
Vanessa virginiensis
This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions:
Vincent, Alabama
Barling, Arkansas
Deer, Arkansas
Marion, Arkansas
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Canoga Park, California
San Diego, California
Ellendale, Delaware
Boca Raton, Florida
Brooksville, Florida
Lutz, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Quincy, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Dallas, Georgia
Divernon, Illinois
Princeton, Illinois
Villa Park, Illinois
Westchester, Illinois
Atalissa, Iowa
Benton, Kentucky
Hebron, Kentucky
La Place, Louisiana
Skowhegan, Maine
Milton, Massachusetts
Pinconning, Michigan
Saint Michael, Minnesota
Wiggins, Mississippi
Butte, Montana
Lincoln, Nebraska
Dover, New Hampshire
Hudson, New Hampshire
Elephant Butte, New Mexico
St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Graham, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Glouster, Ohio
Mount Orab, Ohio
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Whitehall, Pennsylvania
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania
Fort Worth, Texas
Helotes, Texas
Lampasas, Texas
Lufkin, Texas
New Caney, Texas
Branchland, West Virginia
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AFinSD
The Living Desert has an enclosed butterfly exhibit. While there, a Painted Lady landed on my right sock.
The experience was magic!
SusanLouise
DMgardener
Kelli
"This species has the widest distribution of any butterfly in the world and is migratory like the Monarch; it's migration routes and frequencies, however, are not as well defined nor as well studied. Mass flights of this species though the Los Angeles area have occurred fairly often. A very heavy flight took place in the winter and spring of 1958, when tens of thousands of Painted Ladies passed through the basin in a northwest direction. The place of origin of these migrants is not known, but they probably develop during wet years in northern Mexico. Evidence for a return flight in the fall is scanty."
sueatkins
In my area, the weed they use as host plant is cudweed. Yes, I let it grow in my garden. In spring as the cudweed begins to stress over the heat, I start to look for the caterpillar nests in the fuzzy flower tips.I have read that they are the clowns of the gardens. They certainly seem so with their antics.
IrisLover79
~Kristy
melody
found throughout the US and southern Canada.
The caterpillar is velvety black with black spines, narrow yellow-green crossbands and white spots on the sides. It feeds on the foliage of composite flowers, especially everlastings and forget-me-nots
Todd_Boland