Complete Guide To The American Lady Butterfly
American Lady Butterfly
American Lady Butterfly Images
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
How To Identify American Lady Butterflies
- Wingspan: Up to 2.1 inch (5.4 cm)
- Above:
- Forewings are broad, with squared-off wing tips.
- Orange, black, and white.
- Black-tipped with white splotches
- Broken black markings
- Most individuals have a tiny white spot in a patch of orange close to the wing edge.
- Hind wings are orange and black
- Row of small, black-rimmed blue spots along margin
- Spots sometimes blur into each other
- Forewings are broad, with squared-off wing tips.
- Below:
- Forewings have large pink patch.
- Hind wings have intricate, lace-like pattern of cream, beige, and tan.
- Two large eye spots on field of beige by edge of each hind wing.
- Below: Large pink patch.
- American Lady butterflies look similar to another “lady” species of butterfly called the “Painted Lady” (Vanessa cardui).
- A helpful mnemonic to distinguish the two is “American ladies have big eyes and an open mind”.
- American Lady (V. virginiensis) butterflies have two large eyespots on the underside of their hind wings, which Painted Lady (V. cardui) butterflies lack, thus the “big eyes” portion of this saying.
- The black markings on the top surface of American Lady (V. virginiensis) butterfly forewings don’t connect, while those on Painted Lady (V. cardui) butterflies do, thus the “open mind” portion of this saying (Glassberg 1999).
- A helpful mnemonic to distinguish the two is “American ladies have big eyes and an open mind”.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis labelled with field marks that identify the species. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
American Lady Butterfly Vanessa virginiensis labelled with field marks that identify the species. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright Now I Wonder.
How To Find American Lady Butterflies
- Flight Season: American Lady butterflies fly between early April and October.
- Look for adult American Lady butterflies in open spaces, like meadows, fields, and roadsides, and along stream beds.
- American Lady butterflies fly off readily when approached.
- But if you spook one of these butterflies, just keep still and be patient—they often come back to the same general area within a few minutes (Daniels 2003).
American Lady Butterfly Classification
- Other common names for the American Lady butterfly are “Hunter’s Butterfly”, “American Painted Lady”, and “Virginia Lady” (Pyle 1981).
|
Phylum |
Arthropoda |
|
Class |
Insecta |
|
Order |
Lepidoptera |
|
Family |
Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies) |
|
Genus |
Vanessa |
|
Species |
V. virginiensis |
Binomial Name |
Vanessa virginiensis |
