The Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) is one of the most wide ranging butterflies in the world. It occurs in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
See Painted Lady Butterfly [t.beth of Firefly Forest] and Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) [AÖrstan of Snail's Tales] for more information about this butterfly and how to distinguish it from the American Lady butterfly.
5 comments:
Besides lantana, these butterflies also love Butterflybush (Buddleja davidii). I have one in my yard here in Tucson and the Painted Ladies just can't stay away.
Butterflybushes are water hogs here in the desert, but they are well worth growing for all of the butterflies they attract. :-)
do you have these now? I am so jealous of the warmth you must have... none here!
Lovely photos Pam!
Thanks for the info., t.beth. I have a couple of butterfly bushes that aren't doing so well. I didn't realize they need more water than desert plants.
dawn - Yes, this was taken a couple of weeks ago. We're still getting temps. in the mid-80's. I don't particularly like cold, but I miss the changing colours and more dramatic seasons.
I'll add my two cents' worth from Australia!
Although we also have Vanessa cardui in SW Western Australia, the Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) is much more widespread here. (And if my command of html is sufficient, here's the link if you'd like to see how the species compare.)
Thank you, snail. Interesting that the almost worldwide V. cardui would only be found in the Perth area. I left out Australia because the references I found indicated that only V. kershawi was in Australia.
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