Vanessa cardui

Vaud, Switzerland, July 2006

Vaud, Switzerland, July 2006

Painted Lady
Cynthia cardui (Vanessa cardui)

Distribution: Extreme south of Europe and North Africa. Northward migarations start very early in the year and extend across all of Europe. Multiple brooded, northerly regions benefit from population expansion by locally bred offspring of the first migrants. Numbers are strongly seasonally variable in northern areas which, presumably, depend on a range of conditions on the migration route throughout the season.

Identification: Distinctive. The pale pinks and oranges and unique patterning should be difficult to confuse with other species. Males and females are very similar. There is one closely related species, the American Painted Lady, C. virginiensis. This is rare in Europe, occurring just a few times a year in SW England, west coast of France and is probably resident in a few small places in Portugal. Also found on some of the Canary Islands where it also appears to be scarce. The species are distinguished readily by the row of spots on darker greyer underside underside hindwing - there are just two, much larger spots in C. virginiensis. On the upperside the dominant orange patch is in the discal area of C. virginiensis, for C. cardui, the dominant area is around the submarginal spots. I have no photos of C. virginiensis, although I have seen individuals in New Jersey, USA where its smaller size was also noticeable.

Flight time: January or February in North Africa and S Europe moving northwards as the season progresses. Often reaches the UK in June although in recent years this have been becoming earlier, in February in 2004.

Habitat: Diverse due to its migratory tendencies. It often accumulates on thistle rich meadows or in gardens, particularly with Buddleia, where it avidly takes nectar to fuel its active life style. Often seen flying over mountain passes, sometimes at the highest altitudes (e.g. 2500m). Can also be seen in numbers in coastal areas where arriving migrant butterflies rest to replenish energy reserves before dispersing inland. Larvae feed on a very broad range of plants, but mostly Thistles (Carduus) but also Mallows (Malva), Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) and Burdocks (Arctium)

Behaviour: Great numbers can be seen flying in a single determined direction. This can number 20 or 30 a minute at times (Morocco and Cyprus) although more typically it becomes noticeable around 2 or 3 per minute. These butterflies are not seemingly seduced by flowers along the route. This, presumably, migrant behaviour.