Painted Lady & American PLady

[Mark Walker]

> Hello,
>  I'm hoping that some of you have regular opportunities to
> see both the
> Painted Lady Cynthia cardui and the American Painted Lady
> C.virginienis.  In
> the UK we get a very few American Painted Lady claimed each
> year and some
> definitely are individuals of that species. They tend to
> arrive with the
> autumn hurricanes that also blow the Monarch across the
> Atlantic to us.  (5
> Monarchs and 2 Am Painted Lady reported in 2000   -  fewer than usual)
>
> Anyway, the variability of the Painted Lady C.cardui means
> that a lot of
> these claims have to be treated with scepticism just because it is so
> difficult for those of us with little experience of the American PL C
> virginienis to advise on reliable ways to spot American
> Painted Lady from
> the abberrant Painted Lady lookalikes. Especially as most
> observers get very
> brief views.  There seems to be  afeeling that the American
> Painted Lady is
> difficult to approach.
>
> Most claims are based upon the number of spots on the
> underside hindwing.
> There are 3 named variants on the 'standard' Painted Lady
> cardui design with
> only 2 hindwing spots.  But any 'odd' PL with only two
> obvious spots is
> speculatively suggested as American PL virginienis -  but
> there must be
> better id features to look for.  I hope!!
>
> Any suggestions of reliable jizz/features gratefully recieved.
 
I dunno - I guess we're a bit spoiled over here on this side of the pond.
When I id Vanessa species without a net, I look for several things.  First,
I look for the presence of a white subapical band, just below the row of
white spots, on the dorsal forewing.  This is more pronounced in V. cardui,
and is generally easy to notice even in flight.  Worn and missing scales
make this less reliable, but the presence of a pale orange subapical band is
a good indicator of something non-cardui.
 
Next, as you've mentioned, I look for the hindwing submarginal eye spots.
The ventral view is the most telling - V. cardui most always has four very
distinct and well defined eye spots.  V. virginiensis has two very large and
distinct eye spots, with a postmedian white band that forms a well defined
boundary.  V. annabella has a deeply mottled ventral hindwing, and the spots
are harder to distinguish.  If you see four well defined eye spots on the
ventral hindwing, you're probably looking at cardui.
 
On the dorsal side of the hindwing, both V. virginiensis and V. annabella
have eye spots which tend to show more blue scaling.  Again, this is not a
guaranteed identifier, but stunning blue eye spots usually point away from
cardui.
 
Lastly - what I consider to be the telltale identifier - if possible, look
for the single submarginal white dot on the dorsal forewing (around cell
CuA2).  I've found that if the lep opens it's wings for even a moment, you
can spot this spot even from a few meters away.  If you see it, it's
definitely V. virginiensis (the spot is present on the ventral side also,
but not as easy to see).
 
I think I agree that V. virginiensis tends to be a bit more skittish.  They
tend to act somewhat like V. atalanta, easily disturbed and staying just
outside of reach.
 
That's my two cents, anyway.
 
Mark Walker
Oceanside, CA
 
"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
   whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not
   count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit".
 
Psalm 32:1-2
>
 
 
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