For those of you who hadn't heard and seen, Painted Ladies - Vanessa Cardui
have been quite abundant in at least western washington for a good while now
and more are being observed migrating from the south and more are hatching
out of thier pupae here also. Thanks to an unusual amout of rain this
winter in the Southwest and Mexico there was both a bumper crop of food
plants and a bumper crop of Painted Ladies. By the end of the summer I
expect them to be a good deal more abundant still. Thistles - notably Bull
Thistle - Cirsium vulgare and Short-styled Thistle when available seem to be
favored in western Washington, but that may change as some plants get closer
to drying up and some come into bloom through the season. I've seen them
use other composites (asteraceae), lupines and Borage and Mallow family
members. They use quite a few different host plants, but to my knowledge
normally only herbaceous plants. I'm interested in which plants they choose
when and where.

The last time I searched through the images on the internet this was the
best I could find:
Vanessa cardui - Painted Lady
http://www.naturefg.com/images/c-animals/vanessa%20cardui.jpg

On the close relative - the West Coast Lady - Vanessa annabella the bar on
the leading edge of the dorsal forewing is orange rather than white. It is
also more likely to have blue centers in the eyespots on the trailing edge
of the dorsal hindwing. It usually lays its eggs on Mallow family plants:
http://nature.berkeley.edu/citybugs/search/Specifics/westcoastladyspecifics.
htm

The "American Lady" Vanessa virginiensis is a rarity in western Washington
and has notably large eyespots on the ventral hindwing. Pearly Everlasting -
Anaphalis margaritacea is a preferred hostplant:
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabambc/species-data/Vanessa-virginiensis-photo
-5.jpg

Stewart Wechsler
Ecological Consulting
West Seattle
206 932-7225
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

-Advice on the most site-appropriate native plants
and how to enhance habitat for the maximum diversity
of plants and animals
-Educational programs, nature walks and field trips
-Botanical Surveys


-----Original Message-----
From: Kathy Andrich [mailto:chukarbird at yahoo.com]



Hi Tweeters,

Mike Patterson's post mentioning Painted Lady reminded
me to check out some photo's of them to verify that is
what I was seeing the past couple of days at work at
the UW. The similarity is close enough to say that is
probably what they were. There were quite a few
around. Has anyone else noticed them around the
Seattle area the past few days?

Kathy
Roosting in S King County