Painted Lady

The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is one of the most widespread butterflies in the world appearing on all continents with the exception of Antarctica and South America. These butterflies will host on thistle, mallow, and hollyhock and can become locally abundant. In the state of California, late season Painted Lady migrations can be quite a sight as huge numbers of butterflies migrate to find more host and nectar plants to support their quickly increasing population.

Because of their cosmopolitan nature, most butterfly rearing kits contain Painted Lady butterflies so that the adult butterflies can be released into the wild without introducing non-native species to an area.

A closely related species, the American Painted Lady (V. virginiensis), is very similar in appearance. These butterflies are both resident in Florida but can generally be found on different host plants. American Painted Lady butterflies often host on cudweeds.

Caterpillars consuming cudweed (Gnaphalium pensylvanicum) will use the fluffy seeds of the plant and silk to create a puff ball at the top of the plants in which they can hide. These shelters help to conceal the larvae from predators. Cudweeds are a genus of about 120 species, many of which are important host plants for the American Painted Lady butterfly.