Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)

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Painted lady

Vanessa cardui

Butterfly

The painted lady is a cosmopolitan, highly migratory brush-footed butterfly and one of the most polyphagous butterflies known, with caterpillars recorded on over 100 plant species. Larvae feed chiefly on thistles and other Asteraceae, mallows (Malvaceae) including hollyhock, and members of the borage family (Boraginaceae), building silk nests on the host foliage. Adults are broad nectar generalists that readily visit composites, milkweeds, and many garden flowers.

Plants in the catalog

Larval host plants · 5

Borage

Borago officinalis

Plausible

Boraginaceae is one of the primary V. cardui larval host families (BAMONA / Wisconsin extension); borage (Borago officinalis) is cited in some accounts. Kept conservative as plausible.

Globe artichoke

Cynara scolymus

Plausible

Thistle-tribe Asteraceae: thistles are a primary documented V. cardui host group and larvae are recorded eating artichoke/cardoon (Cynara); kept conservative as plausible.

Hardy hibiscus

Hibiscus moscheutos

Plausible

Malvaceae genus-level inference: V. cardui larvae use mallow-family hosts broadly (LBJ Wildflower Center names native Hibiscus); H. moscheutos not species-cited.

Hollyhock

Alcea rosea

Documented

Wisconsin extension and Animal Diversity Web name hollyhock (Alcea, Malvaceae) as a documented Vanessa cardui larval host; caterpillars web the leaves.

Rose of Sharon

Hibiscus syriacus

Plausible

Malvaceae (Hibiscus syriacus) genus-level inference; mallow family is a primary V. cardui larval host family, but this species is not specifically documented.

Nectar plants · 8

Anise hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture lists anise hyssop (Agastache) among adult painted lady nectar plants.

Common milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture names milkweed (Asclepias) among adult V. cardui nectar sources; common milkweed is the representative species.

Common zinnia

Zinnia elegans

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture lists zinnias among adult Vanessa cardui nectar flowers.

Cosmos

Cosmos bipinnatus

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture names cosmos as a documented adult nectar source for the painted lady.

Dense blazing star

Liatris spicata

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture names blazing star (Liatris) as an adult nectar plant for the painted lady.

New England aster

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture names New England aster as an adult painted lady (Vanessa cardui) nectar plant.

Purple coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture lists purple coneflower (Echinacea) among adult Vanessa cardui nectar sources.

Sweet Joe-Pye weed

Eutrochium purpureum

Documented

UW-Madison Horticulture lists Joe-Pye weed among documented adult nectar sources for V. cardui.

Range

Breeds across virtually all of North America, recolonizing the U.S. and Canada each year via mass northward migrations out of northern Mexico and the southwestern deserts.

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