Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui
This butterfly was photographed using a Nikon CoolPix 990 in Phoenix, Arizona, March 2003 at flowers of lantana. The wingspan is approx. 55 mm.
Nymphalidae -- Brush-footed Butterfly Family
Painted Lady butterflies are great migrators. Butterflies that spend the winter months in southern Arizona likely emerged way to the north in the Great Basin or as far as Canada last autumn. Come March and April the butterflies will lay their eggs on Brittle Bush, New Mexico Thistle, and other springtime plants. The caterpillars pupate (form a chrysalis) before changing to new adult butterflies which will begin the summer journey northward through May, June and July. In the Great Basin their caterpillars can be found on sage brush.
In the Sonoran Desert these butterflies are common from November through the winter and until late spring (May). In the spring their caterpillars are frequently found on Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum) and Orange Fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia). Very scarce during the summer.