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Butterfly Garden

American Lady or Painted Lady?

13 years ago

I have seen another 'new to me' butterfly in my garden this afternoon. Looking at the photos on line, I think it is either an American Lady or a Painted Lady.

Would you please take a look and help me id this little beauty. Also watched a beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on the Liatris ligulistylis, which seems to me to be blooming earlier than usual this year. Hope everyone else is beginning to see more butterflies.

My thanks, Mary

top of wings:

{{gwi:489954}}

underside of wings:

{{gwi:489955}}

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Comments (5)

MissSherry
13 years ago
It's an American lady/Vanessa virginiensis, Mary.
You can tell by the pink on the undersides, the white dot in the pink, which is also in orange on the topside, and the fewer but bigger "eyes" - your pictures, by the way, are gorgeous! To me, American ladies have one of the prettiest undersides of all the butterflies.
Sherry
bernergrrl
13 years ago
Beautiful pics!
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This girl wanted badly to get out, I didn't know, and I think that's what attracted the PL's in the first place that day. That's the day I saw a PL trying to fly with a Monarch two times, I think they were influenced by the Monarch 'in distress' in the enclosure. The top of the enclosure is the same aluminum screening as the sides and is see-through like the sides. I let her out after taking photos. I put this enclosure together quickly after my first pupae was killed by a wasp in mid-pupation. I DON'T recommend putting the metal stakes on the inside of the screening as I did. I'll put the stakes on the outside of the mesh next year. The caterpillars like to hang from the metal stakes for some reason, and I had to keep shade over the rails all during the hot summer or they would have fried from the heat of the hot metal.
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Black swallowtails just LOVE fennel and dill, John, but they'll eat rue, even lay eggs on it, when they can't find anything better. And giant swallowtails seem to like it nearly as well as Ptelea trifoliata/hops tree/wafer ash. I've found black and giant swallowtail eggs on rue at the same time, so it's certainly one of the better host plants. My plants in the shade have done so well, I've taken cuttings to plant out in other shady places. Since I can't work outside on this rainy day, I'm cooking (there's a pecan pie in the oven and I'll be putting a roast in the oven after I take out the pie) but I have to do SOMETHING lep related, so I made a picture of one of the American lady caterpillars. I always thought they were among the prettiest cats - Sherry
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Thanks for all the great info and pictures everyone. I don't recognize the cudweed, but now I have a good picture to go by while looking. The other ones I had looked at showed the leaves as much more silver and fuzzy looking, but I see there are different varieties known as cudweed too. It seems like based on appearances at least they would be more likely to try that than some of the other host plants I have read about because at least it looks similar. I double checked and the ironweed I gave them I have labeled as western ironweed (Vernonia baldwinii), and the other ironweed patch just says ironweed, but leaves look more like the western ironweed than the pictures of common ironweed I have seen online. Perhaps that is why they won't try it... or is ironweed a long shot anyways. I also saw asters, common mallow, common sunflower, and burdock listed on a few sites. But I am wondering if that is just mistakes confusing the American Lady with the Painted Lady. I tried putting in some aster, mallow, and sunflower leaves just in case. I know where I can get some burdock too to try, but am thinking it is a long shot as far as them actually eating it. For next year I will have to start some more of the pearly everlasting and try some of the pussytoes or sweet everlasting as well, just to have some more patches and variety. I had sown all the pearly everlasting seed I had and planted it out just last year and it filled out into one large plush clump of about a 2' diameter. I never thought it wouldn't be enough considering I hardly ever even see American Ladies... just a few so far this year. You may be right that she just dumped most of her eggs all in one spot. If I could have actually seen the eggs I would have never brought that many in. I just pulled the few leaves I saw her touching, but couldn't really make out the eggs in the fuzziness. Lesson learned.
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Wow. I wouldn't know xx Lady if they bit me on the nose, but I am enchanted with how those wings look like stained glass. What a beautiful butterfly and beautiful photo!
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Mary Leek
Original Author
13 years ago
Sherry, thank you so much for the ID and for the explanation of how you determine the difference. I didn't locate a photo of the wing underside and the photos of the top side of both Ladies looked very similiar to me. I agree, the underside is so colorful and different. I could hardly believe the difference when it spread its little wings and I could see the back. Going to go and correctly tag the photos right now.

And thank you for the nice compliments on the photos. A picture is, indeed, worth a thousand words, especially when you're trying to ID these little guys.

Got my two Passi incarnata vines planted out yesterday and hope to see a gulf frit one day, too. I planted them in a big pot and am using a wooden teepee trellis over the pot. I've never seen this vine grow so don't know if it will be enough trellis but time will tell. My garden is small and I didn't want to have it coming up in unusual spots! Hopefully, the vine roots are hardy enough that it can overwinter in the pot.

Are you guys getting some of this very hot weather? Heat index here today is supposed to be between 105-110.

Mary
MissSherry
13 years ago
Yes, it's real hot here, Mary. Actually, the temps aren't any higher than usual - upper 80's - low 90's - but the humidity makes the heat index over 100 just about every day. Fortunately, we've been getting rain, so that cools it off - it's actually been pleasant at night.
Once maypops get established after being planted in the ground, they grow REAL fast, but yours is in a pot so that will probably limit its growth, and your trellis will be big enough. I just hope restricting the roots of P. incarnata/maypops won't kill the plant - those roots naturally want to run!
Sherry
Mary Leek
Original Author
13 years ago
uh oh, I didn't think about the roots not being able to expand as they would normally do. I'm going to try and take a cutting or two once it puts on some growth. If I can learn to be successful doing that, I'll always take cuttings before fall and overwinter, just in case the maypop vines don't winter over in the pot. It's a big pot, about 24 inches in dia. so there is a bit of room in it.

Mary

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?what to do with this little guy?

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