American Lady

After a midweek Duke Farms program, this American Lady butterfly was spotted near the Orchid Range. I've discussed before how to distinguish this butterfly from its more common Painted Lady cousin. Although smaller and with a different wing pattern than yesterday's Monarch, they might be confused with the Monarch if you see it fluttering across a meadow at a distance.

Also similar to Painted Ladies and Monarchs, these butterflies migrate here as the weather warms, so you'll probably never see them really early in the season. And since they lay eggs mostly on flowers in the aster family, you probably need these to be fairly mature (though not necessarily in bloom) before you see American Ladies.

May 25, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 205018075, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)



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