Bug FAQSubtropical Lady
Vanessa carye · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: Western Painted Lady
The Subtropical Lady (Vanessa carye) is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. Its larvae feed on Achyrocline flaccida and a variety of other plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The Subtropical Lady, also known as Vanessa carye, belongs to the butterfly family Nymphalidae.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars feed on Achyrocline flaccida and many other plant species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes the same South American countries from Colombia and Venezuela down to Argentina.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 6 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_carye
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.