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Wildlife Spotting

Photo by Georgina3
Published on Project Noah
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38.9195, -77.0623

Field Notes

Description:

Medium sized butterfly feeding on Verbena bonariensis in suburban garden.

Habitat:

Suburban garden

Species ID Suggestions

American lady

Vanessa virginiensis

Reference Link
Ornithoptera80
1

Comments (3)
Georgina3
Yes, I realised after posting initially, that I had a picture showing the underside, so I posted that as well for clarity. The tiny white dot on the orange of the forewing on the American Lady is also a difference.
Ornithoptera80
The difference between the two species is that the American lady butterfly has two eye spots on the underside of the hindwing, while the Painted lady does not.
Georgina3
On first sight, I thought that this was a Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), a migratory species that spreads from North Africa to Europe, arriving in the UK in late summer. Having looked at pictures of them side by side, I'm struck by how similar they are.

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Butterflies & Moths of the World
Photographed
PublishedJune 4, 2021

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