Synonyms: Cosmopolitan, Hodges #4435, Thistle Butterfly.
Widespread and common in summer, occasionally abundant. This species does not just emerge in our area in late summer. It is actually a migrant that recolonizes the continent from Mexico and the southern U.S. each year! The "Thistle Butterfly" or "Cosmopolitan" is the most widespread butterfly species in the world, found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. The Painted Lady looks very similar to its close relative, the American Lady. The fact that the American Lady is sometimes referred to as the American Painted Lady creates confusion.
The Painted Lady shows four small submarginal eyespots on the the hindwing, all similar in size and isolated, whereas the American Lady has two enlarged, and with the row usually thinly connected. On the forewing, Painted lady has more extensive black markings than American, with bold central black markings forming a semicircular mark. American also usually shows a small white spot on an orange background, lacking on Painted (Glassberg, 1999).
Primarily thistles, but will use other plants.
There are 559 records in the project database.
| GA | AL | WA | FR | CL | MO | HO | BA | BC | HA | CE | PG | AA | CV | CH | SM | KE | QA | CN | TA | DO | WI | SO | WO |
