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
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.
Thistle-tribe Asteraceae: thistles are a primary documented V. cardui host group and larvae are recorded eating artichoke/cardoon (Cynara); kept conservative as plausible.
Malvaceae genus-level inference: V. cardui larvae use mallow-family hosts broadly (LBJ Wildflower Center names native Hibiscus); H. moscheutos not species-cited.
Wisconsin extension and Animal Diversity Web name hollyhock (Alcea, Malvaceae) as a documented Vanessa cardui larval host; caterpillars web the leaves.
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 · 14
Generalist butterflies such as the painted lady nectar at accessible composite flowers; mapped as a representative butterfly visitor of this long-blooming sunny annual.
UW-Madison Horticulture lists anise hyssop (Agastache) among adult painted lady nectar plants.
Painted ladies and other sun-loving butterflies nectar readily at the flat, accessible flower faces.
UW-Madison Horticulture names milkweed (Asclepias) among adult V. cardui nectar sources; common milkweed is the representative species.
UW-Madison Horticulture lists zinnias among adult Vanessa cardui nectar flowers.
UW-Madison Horticulture names cosmos as a documented adult nectar source for the painted lady.
UW-Madison Horticulture names blazing star (Liatris) as an adult nectar plant for the painted lady.
Painted ladies and other generalist butterflies nectar at the accessible daisy flowers; mapped as a representative butterfly visitor of this long-blooming sunny annual.
Painted ladies and other small-to-medium butterflies work the clustered florets for nectar through summer and fall; a general nectar visit rather than a documented specialist tie.
Painted lady and other butterflies nectar on the spikes during the long flowering season; lavenders in general are reliable butterfly nectar plants in hot, sunny positions.
UW-Madison Horticulture names New England aster as an adult painted lady (Vanessa cardui) nectar plant.
UW-Madison Horticulture lists purple coneflower (Echinacea) among adult Vanessa cardui nectar sources.
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.