Other Common Names
American Painted Lady
Hunter's Butterfly
Dama Dos Ojos
Vanesse de Virginie - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Papilio cardui virginiensis Drury 1773. Type locality: “New York, Maryland, and Virginia” [defined as “Virginia” on the basis of its name by W. D. Field (1971)]
Papilio [Nymphalis gemmata] huntera Fabricius 1775. Type locality: “Americae balsamita”
Papilio [Nymphalis gemmata] iole Cramer 1776. Type locality: “l’Amerique septentrionale, à la Nouvelle York, à la Jamaïque”
Papilio cardui virginiensis (Drury) Boisduval & LeConte 1834
Vanessa huntera (Fabricius) Godart 1819
Vanessa hunteri (Fabricius) Hübner 1819 [misspelling)
Cynthia huntera (Fabricius) Humphreys & Westwood 1841
Pyrameis huntera (Fabricius) Doubleday 1849
Pyrameis iole (Cramer) Morris 1860
Papilio virginiensis (Drury) Morris 1860
Vanessa virginiensis (Drury) Kirby 1882
Pyrameis huntera fulva Dodge 1900. Type locality: Louisiana, Pike County, Missouri
Vanessa huntera fulva (Dodge) Dyar 1903
Vanessa iole (Cramer) Dyar 1903
Pyrameis huntera virginiensis (Druy) Seitz 1914
Vanessa virginiensis fulva (Dodge) Fox 1921
Cynthia iole (Cramer) Barnes & Benjamin 1926
Cynthia gnaphalii Fabricius 1938 [as a replacement name based on larval food plant]
Pyrameis huntera jole (Cramer) Berg 1941
Vanessa virginiensis iole (Cramer) d'Almeida 1941
Vanessa jole (Cramer) dos Passos 1964
Other names and combinations have been published for various color variations and aberration.
Some authors have used the spelling variant "jole" rather than "iole", which does not affect priorities.
Identification
Direct comparisons of the pattern reveal several consistent differences in the markings and coloration between the three North American "Ladies". The Painted Lady is typically a little larger than the other two "Lady" species. The front (fore) wings of American Lady have a more truncated wing tip than Painted Lady, and the back (hind) wings are more rounded than in the other two species. On average, American Lady is the brightest/darkest orange of the three "Ladies". Fresh individuals of Painted Lady often show a pinkish suffusion above that is absent or less developed in American Lady and absent in West Coast Lady (it tends to vanish as the insect ages). The black markings on the upper surface of American Lady average narrower than Painted Lady. The large pale bar near the middle of the upper front wing is white in Painted Lady, orange in West Coast Lady, but can be either color in American Lady. Two of the submarginal dark "eyespots" on the upper hind wings are filled with blue in the American Lady [usually little or no blue on same spots in Painted Lady; usually four with blue on West Coast Lady]. The under hind wing has two prominent large submarginal eyespots, unlike the much smaller four or five in the other two lady species.
Comparison of the three Painted Lady species in America:
left: Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui.
center: West Coast Lady, Vanessa annabella.
right: American Lady, Vanessa virginensis.
The American Lady frequently shows a submarginal white spot toward the rear of of the outer margin of the front wing. This spot is extremely rare on Painted Lady, and absent on West Coast Lady. Also note the notch in the front wings, and a "cut-off" looking wing tip, more so than Painted Lady. See these photos below for a detailed comparison:
Larvae are variable: greenish yellow with black bands to black with cream bands, numerous red-based branched spines; two prominent white spots on each segment.
(1)Range
Much of North America south to Columbia and Venzuela. Also found, mostly at high elevations, on several islands in the Greater Antilles. Overwintering in the south and moving northward varying distances (usually well into Canada) during the spring and summer where it breeds and produces summer generations. Sometimes strays great distances into other regions, and apparently established as a resident throughout Macaronesia, in Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands, etc. Also seen as an an occasional stray in other far-flung places such as Africa and western Europe.
Food
Larvae feed on Cudweeds, Everlastings and Pussytoes - Gnaphalium, Anaphalis, Antennaria (all Asteraceae).
Life Cycle
1.leaf shelters on Pussytoes (Antennaria) 2.leaf shelters on Pussytoes 3.larva 4.chrysalis 5.adult
Remarks
Often found flying with Vanessa cardui and V. annabella, requiring careful observation to distinguish.
One of the few "numbered" butterflies, Hodges #4434
V. virginiensis belongs to an otherwise South American group of species, which includes the extremely similar V. braziliensis and V. altissima, as well as somewhat more distinctive V. myrinna and V. terpsichore. In fact V. altissima is genetically extremely close, and could perhaps be treated as an Andean subspecies of V. virginiensis.
