Orange butterflies add a touch of warmth and vibrancy to North Carolina’s diverse butterfly population. This guide introduces you to the species you can find across the state. Learn about the different species of orange butterflies, their unique behaviors, and where to observe them in the wild.

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Orange Butterflies Found In North Carolina

American Lady Butterfly

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)

Genus

Vanessa

Species

V. virginiensis

Binomial Name

Vanessa virginiensis

  • Other common names for the American Lady butterfly are “Hunter’s Butterfly”, “American Painted Lady”, and “Virginia Lady” (Pyle 1981).

American Lady Butterfly Images

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.
    • Hindwings are orange and black
      • Row of small, black-rimmed blue spots along margin
      • Spots sometimes blur into each other
  • Below:
    • Forewings have large pink patch.
    • Hindwings have intricate, lace-like pattern of cream, beige, and tan.
    • Two large eye spots on field of beige by edge of each hindwing.
    • 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).

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).

How To Identify American Lady Eggs, Caterpillars, And Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Female American Lady butterflies lay small, pale green, barrel-shaped eggs. They lay their eggs one at a time on the tips of host plant leaves (Daniels 2003).

Caterpillars

  • Grow to approximately 1.25 inches (30 mm) long (Bartlett Wright 1993).
  • Vary in base color but usually dark.
  • Long, black, branched spines project from abdominal segments, with red patches visible at base of each spine.
  • Thin black and cream stripes separate thoracic and abdominal segments.
  • Look for American Lady caterpillars on plants in the Aster family (Asteraceae), like:
    • Sweet Everlasting (Gnaphalium obtusifolium)
    • Plantainleaf Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
  • American Lady caterpillars create shelters for themselves by spinning silk around leaves. The caterpillars hide from predators in these inconspicuous shelters when they aren’t actively feeding.

Chrysalises

  • American Lady chrysalises are brown and spotted in gold (Pyle 1981).
  • Often hidden inside the caterpillars’ leafy shelters (Bartlett Wright 1993).