American Lady

Here's an American Lady butterfly I met a couple months ago. This picture might not be National Geographic quality, but there's one thing I like about it. It demonstrates the 2 ways to differentiate the American Lady butterfly from its Painted Lady butterfly cousin.

If you have a view of the top of the wings, look for a small white dot completely surrounded by an orange region of the wing. American Ladies have that spot while Painted Ladies do not. And if you have a view of the bottom of the wings, you can see "eyespots" on the back wing. American Ladies like this one have 2 eyespots, while Painted Ladies have 4.

Other than this, these 2 butterflies are pretty similar. Both are in the same genus, and both migrate to avoid northern winters. I think the Painted Ladies are more common overall; certainly I've seen more Painteds than Americans.

May 14, 2021 at Fairview Farm
Photo 132039233, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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