As I took the mower along the field trail, I flushed several
American Painted Lady Butterflies from the grass. After I had completed my work, I took the
time to examine a few at closer range.
American Painted Ladies have been active for the past few weeks and this
ragged individual looks like it’s been around that whole time.
This is what was attracting the butterflies. American Painted Lady larvae feed on the
leaves of Pussytoes, Antennaria species.
I purposely raise the mower deck so the plants on the trail are not
unduly stressed by the mowing. Short
growing plants, like the Pussytoes, are not touched by the mower blade. The mower does remove the flower stalks and
this causes the plants to spread even more.
The result is a concentration of Pussytoes on the trail that is greater
than anywhere else in the field.
The dense population of Pussytoes draws in a large crowd of
American Painted Ladies.
The females do a quick search to select a suitable site for
an egg. I wonder if part of the search
may be to determine if an egg has already been deposited in the area. Discovery of an egg may cause the female to
move on to another location that won’t result in competition between larvae.
A single egg is left behind.
I was able to discover an egg on nearly every plant I examined.
The egg is anchored by the long hairs on the Pussytoe leaf.
American Painted Ladies have multiple broods through the summer. The frequency of butterflies seen now
indicates that American Painted Ladies may be super abundant later this
summer. This is a common butterfly that
is easy to approach and observe. I’m
glad that it benefits by my trail maintenance activities.
Hi Steve...Like that plant.. reminds me of Lambs Ear plant with those hairs on it !!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting especially that close up of the egg on the leaf..Awesome!!
You sure you didn't run that poor sad looking butterfly through the mower ; } lol
Grace
Hi Grace. I recently sharpened my mower blades, so the butterfly would have shown straight cuts on its wings if I had run it over.
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