8-11-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In Australia, V. cardui has a limited range around Bunbury, Fremantle, and Rottnest Island. However, its close relative, the Australian painted lady (V. kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American painted lady (V. virginiensis) and the West Coast lady (V. annabella).

Larvae feed on Asteraceae species, including Cirsium, Carduus, Centaurea, Arctium, Onopordum, Helianthus, and Artemisia.

The painted lady uses over 300 recorded host plants according to the HOSTS database.

Adult butterflies feed on flower nectar and aphid honeydew.

28-10-2024 CAMI LES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In Australia, V. cardui has a limited range around Bunbury, Fremantle, and Rottnest Island. However, its close relative, the Australian painted lady (V. kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American painted lady (V. virginiensis) and the West Coast lady (V. annabella).

Larvae feed on Asteraceae species, including Cirsium, Carduus, Centaurea, Arctium, Onopordum, Helianthus, and Artemisia.

The painted lady uses over 300 recorded host plants according to the HOSTS database.

Adult butterflies feed on flower nectar and aphid honeydew.

25-9-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed. In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.

3-6-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed. In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.

V. cardui is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.

Similarly, heavier than usual rain during the 2018-2019 winter seems to have been the cause of the extraordinarily large migration observed in Israel at the end of March, estimated at a billion individual butterflies. Painted lady migration patterns are highly erratic and they do not migrate every year. Some evidence suggests that global climatic events, such as el Niño, may affect the migratory behaviour of the painted lady butterflies, causing large-scale migrations. The first noticeable wave of migration in eastern Ukraine was noted in the 20s of April 2019. From May 15, numbers began to grow and it was possible to observe hundreds of this species in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, including in the city streets of Kharkiv.

12-4-2024 VARANASI, INDIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

Vanessa cardui  occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

8-5-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed. In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.

V. cardui is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.

Similarly, heavier than usual rain during the 2018-2019 winter seems to have been the cause of the extraordinarily large migration observed in Israel at the end of March, estimated at a billion individual butterflies. Painted lady migration patterns are highly erratic and they do not migrate every year. Some evidence suggests that global climatic events, such as el Niño, may affect the migratory behaviour of the painted lady butterflies, causing large-scale migrations. The first noticeable wave of migration in eastern Ukraine was noted in the 20s of April 2019. From May 15, numbers began to grow and it was possible to observe hundreds of this species in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, including in the city streets of Kharkiv.

Based on experimental data, the painted lady's migration pattern in northern Europe apparently does not follow a strict north-west heading. The range of headings suggests that migrating butterflies may adjust their migration patterns in response to local topographical features and weather, such as strong wind patterns. Laboratory-raised autumn-generation painted lady butterflies were able to distinguish a southern orientation for a return migration path. According to the same laboratory-based study, when butterflies were isolated from the sun, they were unable to orient themselves in a specific direction, opposed to those that did have access to the sun. This suggests that V. cardui requires a direct view of the sky, implying the use of a solar compass to orient its migratory direction and maintain a straight flight path.

6-5-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed. In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.

V. cardui is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.

Similarly, heavier than usual rain during the 2018-2019 winter seems to have been the cause of the extraordinarily large migration observed in Israel at the end of March, estimated at a billion individual butterflies. Painted lady migration patterns are highly erratic and they do not migrate every year. Some evidence suggests that global climatic events, such as el Niño, may affect the migratory behaviour of the painted lady butterflies, causing large-scale migrations. The first noticeable wave of migration in eastern Ukraine was noted in the 20s of April 2019. From May 15, numbers began to grow and it was possible to observe hundreds of this species in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, including in the city streets of Kharkiv.

Based on experimental data, the painted lady's migration pattern in northern Europe apparently does not follow a strict north-west heading. The range of headings suggests that migrating butterflies may adjust their migration patterns in response to local topographical features and weather, such as strong wind patterns. Laboratory-raised autumn-generation painted lady butterflies were able to distinguish a southern orientation for a return migration path. According to the same laboratory-based study, when butterflies were isolated from the sun, they were unable to orient themselves in a specific direction, opposed to those that did have access to the sun. This suggests that V. cardui requires a direct view of the sky, implying the use of a solar compass to orient its migratory direction and maintain a straight flight path.

14-11-2023 MARJAL DE MOROS, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In Australia, V. cardui has a limited range around Bunbury, Fremantle, and Rottnest Island. However, its close relative, the Australian painted lady (V. kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American painted lady (V. virginiensis) and the West Coast lady (V. annabella).

Adult butterflies feed on flower nectar and aphid honeydew. Females oviposit on plants with nectar immediately available for the adults even if it leads to high mortality of the larvae. This lack of discrimination indicates they do not take into account volatile chemicals released from potential host plants when searching for oviposition choices.

The availability of adult resources dictates a preference for specific areas of flowers. Flowers with more available nectar result in a larger number of eggs deposited on the plants. This reinforces the idea that the painted lady butterfly does not discriminate host plants and chooses mainly on the availability of adult food sources even if it increases the mortality rate of the offspring. The data also suggest that the painted lady butterfly favors quantity of offspring over quality.

Painted lady butterflies have a visual system that resembles that of a honey bee. Adult V. cardui eyes contain ultraviolet, blue, and green opsins. Unlike other butterflies, such as the monarch or red postman butterflies, painted ladies lack red receptors, which means that they are not sensitive to red light. Behavioral studies on the related species, Vanessa atalanta, have demonstrated that V. atalanta cannot distinguish yellow light from orange light or orange light from red light.

Groups of two to eight painted lady butterflies have been observed to fly in circles around each other for about one to five seconds before separating, symbolizing courtship. Groups of butterflies usually will not fly more than 4.5 m away from the starting point. To establish and defend their territories, adult males perch in the late afternoon in areas where females are most likely to appear.[36] Once the male spots a female of the same species, he begins pursuit of her. If the foreign butterfly is a male, the original male will give chase, flying vertically for a few feet before returning to his perch.

V. cardui establishes territories within areas sheltered by hedgerows. Vanessa cardui tend to inhabit sunny, brightly lit, open environments and are often attracted to open areas of flowers and clovers. Adults spend time in small depressions in the ground on overcast days.

29-10-2023 POTRIES, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

The Painted Lady butterfly and other insects are part of a class of invertebrates within the phylum Euarthropoda, including arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. Arthropods have an exoskeleton, segmented bodies, and jointed appendages. 

The Painted Lady butterflies are one of the brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae), also called four-footed butterflies. They have a five to nine-centimeter wingspan and live for about two to four weeks.

Painted Lady butterflies are found on every continent in the world except Antarctica and Australia.

In the wild, the females lay about 500 eggs in their short 2-4-week lifespan. To put that in perspective, the best laying chicken breeds can only lay about 5-6 eggs per week. Ok, they’re fundamentally different species, but 500 butterfly eggs are still impressive for the lovely little lady.

During migration, the Painted Lady species travels a phenomenal 9,000-mile round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle! 1 Sorry North American Monarchs, that's almost double the distance of your significant migration.

We think of a cuticle as something on our fingers and toes, but that word refers to the skin (exoskeleton) on caterpillars. The exoskeleton is made of a biomaterial called chitin (fact #9 below explains the cool way chitin also affects butterfly wings). Chitin is one of the most important biopolymers in nature.2 It's the same biomaterial that lobsters, crabs, and other arthropods use in their hard exoskeletons. Strong hydrogen bonds between the chitin chains give chitin exceptional toughness, protecting the caterpillar’s soft insides until it goes through metamorphosis. Or in the case of the lobster, protecting its succulent flesh until it turns into our buttery, gourmet dinner!  Being that tough means that chitin doesn't stretch with growth, so caterpillars and other arthropods periodically shed their exoskeletons, i.e., they molt.

The larval stage of the Painted Lady butterfly is about 5 to 10 days. The caterpillars will eat and eat and eat; after all, how else are they going to turn into gorge-ous butterflies? Caterpillars can consume 200X their birth weight in less than two weeks. They will increase their body mass by as much as 1,000 times or more during this stage.  Imagine a seven-pound newborn child consuming 1400 pounds of formula in two weeks.3 As the caterpillar grows, its skin gets too tight, triggering a hormone (ecdysone) that regulates the molting process.  A caterpillar changes its skin about four times before it's fully grown and ready to go into the chrysalis stage. And, no surprise, the voracious caterpillar doesn't just shed that skin; it digests and reabsorbs most of it. What an appetite!

Like spiders, caterpillars produce silk through a "spinneret." This tube-like structure is located on the lower side of the caterpillar's mouth. The caterpillar excretes liquid silk from its salivary glands then through the spinneret. When the liquid hits the air, it turns into a solid silk strand. Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers – it's said that pound for pound, silk is stronger than steel. Although, the spider's silk is stronger than not just steel, but also Kevlar! 4 If you have a butterfly habitat, you can observe them attach to the roof before forming a chrysalis. The caterpillar uses silk from its spinneret to secure itself and build its chrysalis.

Butterflies use complex structures called photonic crystals to scatter light and create that distinctive iridescent look.5 Scientists used powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne to get a unique look at the structure of the tiny crystals that make up butterflies' wings. The results show us how the wings get their iridescent, brilliant colors. "We also found tiny crystal irregularities that may enhance light-scattering properties, making the butterfly wings appear brighter." These "defects" grow as a result of the chirality —the left or right-handedness—of the chitin molecules from which butterfly wings are formed," said co-author Ian McNulty, an X-ray physicist with the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne. 

8-5-2023 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady.

V. cardui displays a unique system of continuous mating, throughout all seasons, including the winter. This may be attributed to its migratory patterns, thus significantly affecting its mating behaviour. During European migrations, the butterflies immediately begin to mate and lay eggs upon arrival in the Mediterranean in the spring, starting in late May.

During its migratory process, these painted lady butterflies start breeding, and reproduce entirely throughout their migration. Scientists have not been able to find evidence of their overwintering; this may be because they migrate to warmer locations to survive and reproduce. Female painted lady butterflies may suspend their flight temporarily when they are "ready to oviposit"; this allows them the opportunity to continually reproduce throughout their migrations. Because these butterflies are constantly migrating, male butterflies are thought to lack consistent territory. Instead of requiring territory to mate with females and developing evolutionary behaviour to defend this territory, the mating butterflies appear to establish a particular "time and place" in certain locations that they find to be suitable for reproduction. More specifically, they locate certain perches, hilltops, forest-meadow edges, or other landmarks where they will stay until, presumably, a female arrives to mate.

6-5-2023 MARXUQUERA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

The Painted Lady is a long-distance migrant, which causes the most spectacular butterfly migrations observed in Britain and Ireland.

Each year, it spreads northwards from the desert fringes of North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia, recolonising mainland Europe and reaching Britain and Ireland. In some years it is an abundant butterfly, frequenting gardens and other flowery places in late summer.

30-4-2023 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Female painted lady butterflies have been observed to have a relatively "high biotic potential", meaning they each produce large numbers of offspring. This perpetual influx of reproduction may be a reason why these painted lady butterflies have propagated so successfully. One interesting aspect that scientists have observed is that these butterflies like to fly towards rain. Further studies have suggested that the large amounts of rainfall may somehow "activate more eggs or induce better larval development". Inhabited locations begin to observe a large influx of new generations of painted lady butterflies in the fall, particularly in September and October. Their reproductive success declines relatively throughout the winter, primarily through November. However, they still continue to reproduce—an aspect of butterfly behaviour that is quite unique. Scientists hypothesize that these extensive migratory patterns help the painted lady butterflies find suitable conditions for breeding, thus offering a possible reason as to why these butterflies mate continuously.

12-4-2023 MARJAL DE MOROS, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

24-10-2022 GATA DE GORGOS, ALICANTE - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

29-6-2022 ULLAL DE BALDOVI, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

16-6-2022 CANAL LES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

5-6-2022 POBLA DEL DUC, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

27-5-2022 ULLAL DE BALDOVI, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

25-5-2022 ADOR CAMPO, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui

20-5-2022 ULLAL DE BALDOVI, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48548-Vanessa-cardui