Vanessa cardui

Painted Lady On The Moonstone

Photographs of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), taken on August 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

09/1609/16 by Peter Hillman Categories: Animals, Animals (Invertebrates), Butterflies, Insects, Nature Photography, Wildlife PhotographyTags: Butterflies, Butterfly, Insects, Lepidoptera, Macro, Macro Photography, Nature, Nature Photography, Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography 2 Comments

Photograph of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Butterfly-bush (Buddleia davidii), taken on August 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

This afternoon, after work, I was greeted by not only one Painted Lady butterfly, nor just two as pictured, but three on the same Butterfly-bush, which is quite something to see.

08/16 by Peter Hillman Categories: Animals, Animals (Invertebrates), Butterflies, Insects, Nature PhotographyTags: Buddleia, Buddleia davidii, Butterflies, Butterfly, Butterfly-bush, Insects, Lepidoptera, Macro, Macro Photography, Nature, Nature Photography, Nymphalidae, Nymphalids, Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography Leave a comment

The Hornet And The Painted Lady

Photograph of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and Hornet, taken August 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

08/1608/16 by Peter Hillman Categories: Animals, Animals (Invertebrates), Insects, Nature Photography, WaspsTags: Butterflies, Hornet, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Nature, Nature Photography, Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, Wasps, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography 4 Comments

Painted Lady

I hadn’t seen this butterfly all year until to my delight I came home from work this afternoon and found it flying around my garden and feeding on my Buddleia. Quite a large and distinctively marked butterfly. It has a wingspan of up to 90mm.

The caterpillar feeds mainly on thistles, but also mallows.

It flies April to October in two or three broods. Found in almost any habitat, including parks and gardens. They breed throughout the year in North Africa and migrate in huge swarms northwards through southern Europe in the spring. It cannot survive the winter in any form in Britain or Europe for that matter, except possibly the far south in Spain. Far ranging migrant, and very common.

Photographs of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Butterfly-bush (Buddleia davidii), taken on August 2016, rear garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Nikon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens.