4 Vanessa Butterfly Species Overview And Comparison - Butterflyhobbyist (2024)

Vanessa butterflybelongs to the largest family of butterflies, and 4 of them are the most common kinds in North America, known for their presence around vacant lots, gardens, and open fields.

Vanessa butterfly and its subfamilies

Vanessabelongs to the orderLepidoptera,familyNymphalidae— the second-largest family of butterflies, known as the brush-footed butterflies. With over 6,000 butterflies in this subfamily present globally, 4 are most common in North America:

1. TheRed admiral butterfly(Vanessa atalanta)
2. ThePainted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)
3. TheAmerican lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
4. TheWest coast lady (Vanessa Annabella)

The fifth subspecies, theKamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea),is an endemic species of Hawaii and has the smallest range of all the USVanessa butterflies.

Red Admiral – black and orange beauty

TheRed admiralhas a small white spot and a noticeable orange median band near the edges of both forewings and hindwings. The dorsal side of its wings is brownish-black. Its hindwings have a reddish marginal band. Its wingspan is 1 3/4 to 3 inches (4.5 to 7.6 cm), with females being a bit larger than males.

Painted lady – bright orange and fluffy

Painted ladyalso shows variation based on its geographical range. Their summer form is large and bright, while their winter form is small and dull in color.

ThePainted lady butterfly’supper side is orange-brown with a dark wing base and 4 submarginal eyespots. Its forewing has a black apex patch and a white line close to the edges. The hindwings have a row of 5 tiny spots, sometimes with bluish scales. ThePainted ladyhas a wingspan of 2 to 2 7/8 inches (5.1 to 7.3 cm).

American lady – similar to the painted lady

TheAmerican ladyis similar to thePainted lady, with slight differences. For example, anAmerican ladyhas a tiny white spot on her hindwings. The underside of the forewings has more prominent eyespots compared to thePainted lady. Its wingspan is 1 3/4 to 2 5/8 inches (4.5 to 6.7 cm).

West coast lady – another “painted” sister

Finally, theWest coast ladyhas an orange-brown upperside and an orange line on the edge of the forewings. Its hindwings have 3 or 4 blue submarginal spots. The underside of the wings has a complex pattern, with eyespots mixed in with other markings. Its wingspan is 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 inches (3/8 to 5.7 cm).

Vanessa Caterpillar Physical Description

TheRed admiral butterfly’slarva is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length. Its coloration is variable, yet most of them are black with a thin yellow line, some white spots, and spines that stay around during the pupa stage.

ThePainted lady butterfly’slarva is similar to a Red admiral, with few yellowish patterns and spines.

TheAmerican lady’scaterpillar has bright yellow rings around its body, with tiny dark red spots below each spike. The side of its body contains an almost uninterrupted yellow line.

TheWest coast lady’scaterpillar is brighter and creamy-colored, with many whitish spikes coming out of its body.

Distribution

TheRed admiral (Vanessa atalanta)is present around the Holarctic area and North America — all the way from Central Canada to the Mexican highlands and Central America (Guatemala). This butterfly overwinters in the southern US states — Texas and Florida.

ThePainted lady butterflyis located in:

• Europe
• Asia
• North America
• Central America

This kind is migratory, and its route includes the southwestern US and northern Mexico.

TheAmerican ladycan be found around southern Canada, the entire US, Central America, Colombia, and the Galapagos Islands. Migrates to the northern US, southern Canada, the West Indies, and Europe.

TheWest Coast ladyis mostly limited to western North America:

• Southern British Columbia
• Baja California Norte
• Montana
• New Mexico
• Colorado

Occasional migrants will stray to central Kansas, North Dakota, and south areas of Ontario.

Habitats

These are usual habitats for the 4 Vanessa butterfly species:

Host Plants

These butterflies lay eggs on the following host plants:

Diet

TheRed admiraladults usually eat tree sap, fermenting fruit, and bird droppings. This butterfly species will visit flowers only when these food sources aren’t available. When that happens, they’ll drink nectar from milkweed, red clover, aster, and others.

ThePainted lady butterflyfood plantsinclude:

• Boraginaceae
• Malvaceae
• Common mallow
• Legumes
• Thistles
• Ironweed

The American lady’s larva will feed on a limited range of food plants, such as:

• Sweet everlasting
• Pearly everlasting
• Plantain-leaved puss*toes

Adults will drink nectar from dogbane, marigold, vetch, and goldenrod.

TheWest coast ladylarvae feed on the host plants, while adults drink flower nectar.

Vanessa species Behavior

TheRed admiral butterflyhas an erratic fast flight, but it’s considered people-friendly. During the afternoon, males will perch on ridgetops, looking for females. They’ll court a female for a few hours before the mating session begins. Females will select the male based on the traits that will increase mating success.

Once the mating process is done, females will lay eggs on top of the host plant’s leaves. This butterfly has 2 broods, one from March to October and the other that winters from October to March (in South Texas).

Males are quite territorial and like to keep an oval-shaped area for themselves. They patrol the place from 7 to 30 times each hour and interact with intruders 10 to 15 times during that period.

They’ll chase off the intruder in a vertical path to disorient them. Then, they’ll come back to their area. This behavior is correlated with temperature — warmer temperatures make males patrol early in the day.

ThePainted ladymales perch and patrol in the afternoon, looking for females. Those located in the West will perch on shrubs, while those in the East rest on bare ground. Females lay eggs, one by one, on the top of the host plant’s leaves. Adults hibernate only in the South during mild winters.

This butterfly is known for massive migrations of up to 9,320 miles (15,000 km) around the Palearctic. Millions of butterflies participate in these migrations to take advantage of the seasonal change.

TheAmerican ladybehaves similarly to thePainted lady. Its caterpillars are solitary, living and feeding in a nest of leaves connected with silk. Adults hibernate. This butterfly has about 3 broods annually. However, it’s unknown whether adults can survive cold winters.

TheWest coast ladylife cycle includes several flights all year round in California. Overall, their behavior is similar to the other three — males perch and look for females, females lay eggs on the upperside of the host plant leaves, and adults hibernate.

Predators

TheRed admiral butterflyand theWest coast ladyhave similar predators, including birds, mammals, other insects, and similar.

Birds, frogs, and reptiles are the major enemies of thePainted lady butterfly. Luckily, this species is highly sensitive to light and movement, so they can easily escape predators.

When it comes to theAmerican lady, wasps, spiders, and ants aretargeting its caterpillars.