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Painted Lady

Vanessa cardui

Painted Lady

Adults Fly

March–October (numbers vary wildly year to year).

Eggs Laid

April–September (timing depends on when migratory waves arrive).

Larvae Active

April–October.

Overwintering

Mostly does not overwinter in the Willamette Valley; populations are replenished by migration from warmer regions.

Conservation (NatureServe)

G4 (Apparently Secure)
Generally widespread; populations fluctuate and can be affected by weather and habitat availability.

Caterpillar Host Plants (Willamette Valley natives)

  • Short-styled thistle Cirsium brevistylum — Native thistle of wet meadows and riparian edges.
  • Douglas' thistle Cirsium douglasii — Native thistle of prairies and open sites.

Favorite Nectar Flowers (Willamette Valley natives)

  • Douglas aster Symphyotrichum subspicatum — A Painted Lady magnet in late summer/fall.
  • Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis
  • Oregon sunshine Eriophyllum lanatum
  • Pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea
  • Showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa

What the Caterpillars Eat

Leaves (and sometimes flower parts) of native thistles (Cirsium spp.); larvae often spin a light silk ‘nest.’

The Painted Lady is the ultimate frequent flyer. Its orange, black, and white pattern is familiar across much of the world, and in Oregon it can appear in anything from a quiet trickle to a full-blown ‘invasion year.’ When conditions line up, Painted Ladies can move north in big numbers and suddenly be everywhere—from schoolyards to roadside fields.

Caterpillars are best known for feeding on thistles, spinning loose silk nests as they grow. In the Willamette Valley, that often means thistles in sunny, open habitats like prairies, meadow edges, and disturbed ground.

Painted Ladies are migratory, so they don’t reliably overwinter in our colder months. Think of them as seasonal guests that reward good habitat with dramatic visits—especially where native late-season flowers are abundant.

Fun Facts

  • Painted Ladies are among the most widely distributed butterflies on Earth.
  • Their migrations can be multi-generation journeys—one ‘wave’ lays eggs, and the next generation continues the trip.

Sources

Solitary wasp

A solitary wasp has no colony of workers helping raise her young. A female may stock her own nest cells with food, or find a host for her developing offspring. Solitary describes social life; parasitoid describes a feeding strategy. A wasp can be both.

Social wasp

Social wasps share a nest and cooperate in raising young. In yellowjacket and paper wasp colonies, reproductive females lay eggs and workers help feed the brood and maintain the nest. They can defend that nest, so observing a forager is different from approaching a colony.

Non-native Social wasp

This is a social wasp introduced beyond its natural range. In this case the European paper wasp was introduced to North America from Europe, probably hidden in shipping materials. Non-native describes its origin, while social describes colony life.