Paintedlady1

Painted Lady Butterfly

Painted Lady butterflies have characteristic orange and black markings and bright white dots like the better-known Monarch butterflies, but with a softer tan coloration on the underside of the wings. Like the Monarch are impressive migrators: migrating between Mexico and Canada. For such a delicate creature and such a long distance, it takes multiple generations, around 6 in fact, to complete the round trip. In Colorado, Painted Ladies may be seen flying low in the springtime, low to the ground searching for nectar and host plants. Adults can fly up to 100 miles on their migration. They may have up to 3 broods over the summer from May to September. The adult butterfly lays her eggs on leaves, that develop into larvae over a few days. The larvae feed on leaves for about two weeks before they pupate &ndash; weaving a crysallis (cocoon) and emerging as an adult butterfly in another week, taking about 5 weeks to complete a generation.
Scientific name: Vanessa cardui
Habitat Mosaics Plan: <a href="https://habitat-mosaics.web.app/plans/painted-lady-butterfly/">Painted Lady Butterfly, Colorado Front Range, North</a>
Fun Facts: Painted Ladies migrate from Mexico all the way to Canada and back, such a long migration that it takes several generations to complete the journey.&nbsp; They are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica, and is in fact the most widely-distributed butterfly in the world.&nbsp; It is sometimes called the thistle butterfly because Painted Lady caterpillars like to eat thistles so much.
Learn More:
<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/2020/06/24/painted-lady-butterfly">Painted Lady Butterfly</a> - University of Colorado, Boulder, Museum of Natural History
<a href="http://coloradofrontrangebutterflies.com/painted-lady">Pained Lady Butterfly</a> - Colorado Front Range Butterflies
<a href="https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/hempinsects/PDFs/Painted%20lady.pdf">Painted Lady Butterfly</a> - Colorado State University, College of Agricultural Sciences
<a href="https://dickinsoncountyconservationboard.com/2019/08/26/five-fun-facts-about-painted-lady-butterflies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Five Fun Facts about Pained Lady Butterflies</a> - Dickinson County Conservation Board

The Front Range of Colorado, is where the Great Plains of the midwest meet the Rocky Mountains of the west.&nbsp; The plains here are considered high plains, because the elevation is over 5,000 feet, much of it "mile high".&nbsp; Being in the rain shadow of the Rockies, this western edge of the plains is particularly dry and is naturally home to xeric (drought-tolerant) species.&nbsp; The EPA designates this area as the Front Range Fans Level IV Ecoregion.

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