An Introduction to the Vanessa Butterflies. By Nigel Venters

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2 An Introduction to the Vanessa Butterflies (This paper was first issued as part of the Painted Lady and Longwing Butterflies workshop.) Introduction It may sound odd to combine two very different families of butterflies into a single study or workshop. The Painted Ladies (Vanessa species from the Nymphalidae family) and the Longwings, (Heliconid species from the Heliconiinae family) are far apart scientifically, and many taxonomists would groan in disbelief at my intention to combine these two families into one study. My aim in this paper is to show how to breed butterflies from both these families in captivity, in the most efficient way to minimize the work, equipment and space required. From a butterfly breeder s point of view, these butterflies share many similar characteristics! Of course the host plants between these two butterfly families are very different, and they also vary considerably within each family. I will cover these host-plants in some depth. Page 1

3 I. The Painted Lady Butterflies This is the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) which many butterfly breeders from around the world love to raise - Such an easy species to be successful with! But do be aware - there are many similar species which all feed on different host-plants! It may be useful to mention at the start of this paper that the scourge of Monarch breeders, the parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (such an awful name and best known as O.e.!) does not occur in any of these species, and is entirely restricted to the Danainae family of butterflies. So relax, if you breed these species, you will be totally free from O.e.! The sequence of this paper will be to start with notes on the Painted Lady species, followed by the Longwing species. Then I will go into the breeding techniques in detail that will cover both families. Distinguishing the Different Vanessa s - Painted Lady/Red Admiral Species The Vanessa species are powerfully muscled, fast flying, and colourful butterflies. In general the larvae feed on host plants from Uticaceae, Moraceae, and Malvaceae families. (Host-plants discussed in detail later.) The Vanessa have many different species across the world, are but mostly split into two general wing patterns and colour forms. These are (and this is a very general description) Page 2

4 the general Painted Lady pattern and colour form, and the general Red Admiral pattern and colour form. The General Painted Lady Pattern and Colour Form Species 1. North America (South to Costa Rica) If you live in the North America, there are three Painted Lady species that you will need to be able to distinguish, and only then can you be certain which of these three species you have caught (see photos below). These are the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui); the West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella); and the American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis). 2. Central and South America Further south, in South America, there is a minefield of species you will need to be able distinguish (see photos later in this paper). 3. The Rest of the World If you live in the rest of the world, you really have only one species to contend with - the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). There is no doubt that the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is the world s most widely distributed butterfly. It occurs from Central America, north to Canada, across to Europe, Africa, the Far East, and Australia. (Some say it is a different species in Australia, but I don t believe it! More later in this paper!) It has even been seen as far north as Iceland after summer migration. Strangely, although the habitat is obviously suitable, it does not occur in South America, where other species presumably dominate the biotype. This is actually a very cold-sensitive species that is mostly continuously brooded, and would never occur in most of the US, Canada and Northern Europe without new migrations occurring each spring from the south. There is very little real evidence that there is any migration south in the fall of the year, and most larvae and adults just die when the first frosts hit them. I will be discussing all the different species, (including V. cardui) in depth later in this paper, but I thought it important to mention a few points about Vanessa cardui at the start of this article, as it is by far the most widely bred species of them all. I do believe that many US breeders do not recognise the different species, when collecting new stock. The three separate US species all behave the same way, fly quickly, and inhabit the same open type of biotype. They are never found within woodland or heavily forested areas. So, you may wonder how three very similar species can co-exist, without domination and eventual extinctions, leaving only one species dominant! The answer is that they don t compete, as they all have different larval host plants. So it is important to know what you have before you try and breed it! Page 3

5 Identification The photos above should help you identify the Painted Lady species that you have caught. Perhaps the most difficult is to distinguish between The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and the West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella). Note the arrow and the different coloured spots (one species is always white and the other is always orange) at this point on the forewing. All the adult Painted Lady and Red Admiral species have identical males and females. However, the females are generally a more rounded shape than the males, which are more angular in shape. It is not too difficult to distinguish them on the wing. When they are nectaring, they behave identically. Then, the females will fly in a searching mode for their host plants and visit vegetation continually to determine where to lay eggs, but the males just frantically look for females! They are very fast fliers and difficult to catch. I repeat here, that probably one of the surest indications is where I have the two red arrows pointing in the photo. The colour of the bar in the wing near the main forewing vein (costa) is always white in Vanessa cardui, and always orange or heavily tinted orange in Vanessa annabella. Page 4

6 Other distinguishing features are, that the West Coast Lady has more angular forewings than the Painted Lady, is generally a deeper orange, and has a darker hind-wing underside. Careful observation of the photos should show other differences, of course! Of course, the American Lady is quite different from either of the other species. I suggest that the large eye-spots on the underside hind wing are the easiest way to separate them from the others. Aberrations in any of the painted Lady species are extremely rare in the wild. All of the species are remarkably constant in pattern and colouring. However, if you are breeding, all Painted Ladies are extremely susceptible to extreme cold conditions at the point of pupation. It is at this point where you can produce some very strange patterned and coloured adults if you would like to try. Collectors will pay large sums for good aberrations, and you can turn a 50-cent butterfly into a $100 specimen by doing this! You cannot breed further aberrations from these, as their offspring, unless subjected to the same cold conditions, at the same pupation stage will emerge as normal patterned and coloured adults. I will provide more detailed instructions on how to achieve this, later in the article. The only differences you are likely to see in the wild are paler coloured specimens, which are generally worn or old. Also if you live in an area where you have a distinct dry season and a separate rainy season, many of the Painted Ladies produced in the dry season can be much smaller than those produced in the rainy season. This applies to wild stock only, as breeding conditions overcome the problem of poor quality, desiccated host-plant for the larvae. The Different Species, Their Ranges and Host Plants The breeding techniques that I use are discussed later in this paper, however, it seems sensible to give the species range and host plant requirements for each of these species now, while they are fresh in our minds! When I am considering the different options for host plants to use I always consider (for any species I am breeding), What grows best where I live? This is important, as someone who does well using a particular host plant in another part of the country and with a different climate than yours, may suggest a host plant that is quite unsuitable for where you live. The key here is to try a few host plants, and get information on how they grow where you live. Always go for the host plant that produces the most leaf area in the smallest container for maximum efficiency. Also do bear in mind that host plants range between optimum, acceptable and marginal plant species. To expand on this, you need to realise that the larvae will all feed successfully on each of these categories of host plant, though some losses are to be expected on the marginal host plants. If you aim for the optimum host plants you will find that it is not only easier to get the females to lay their eggs, but you will also have far less problems rearing the larvae to pupation. Page 5

7 The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Range This species is found over the whole of North America from Costa Rica northwards to Canada. It relies totally on northern migration to reach this range, and each year may be very different to the previous year when seeing wild stock in your area. The key is successful breeding due to optimum climatic conditions in the south, which determines the amount of butterflies that fly north each year. As previously mentioned, it also occurs in the whole of Europe, and far to the east in Russia, The Middle East, all of Africa, The Far east and Australia. It is absent from South America, where so many other species of Painted Lady occur, and several will use the same host plants. My guess is that it can t compete here with the native species. Host Plants It is probably easier to state what this species won t eat that what they do! The range of host plants for this species is huge, with 1,000 host plants recorded! We shouldn t be too surprised as this is the dominant Painted Lady species when it comes to World distribution. The scientific name cardui comes from its love of thistles (Carduus species) in Europe (however, do be careful of the species of thistle you use when breeding this as they will not do well on all of them, and will refuse some species completely). The optimum host plant is Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) and in my wanderings over suitable habitat where Musk Thistle and many other species of thistle were present, I found fifty times more larvae on Musk Thistle than any other thistle. The Musk Thistle is well established in the US, being an invasive from Europe. However, here is a list of its most usual, and considered optimum host plants that may be useful to you. Of course, I have to cut this list to a sensible amount of options, so don t expect 1,000 options! Firstly, so you can try some local experiments, here are some families of plants they feed on: Cucurbitaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Vitaceae, Malvaceae, Brassicaceae, Boraginacea. OK, now some sense to all this. Optimum host plants are the thistles, Carduus and Cirsium. Also, Echium and Malva (especially Malva sylvestris) many breeders use Hollyhock, (Alcea species). One problem with Hollyhock is that they are all annuals or short-lived perennials, and grow a bit tall for my breeding requirements. In my view, the best of all these for breeding is Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)! Also good is Large Leaved Nettle (Urtica dubia). Page 6

8 The West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) Range The West Coast Lady is generally restricted to the Pacific slope of the US from British Columbia to California, and further south. It does, however, wander as far east as the Great Plains. This is a much more cold tolerant species than the Painted Lady and relies much less on migrations to survive, but still needs to do so in some numbers each year to reach it s Northern range in British Columbia. But do not be too surprised to find that a vagrant female has established a small colony just about anywhere in the US. Its occurrence north can be sporadic some years, and it depends on the success of optimum breeding conditions further south to become common in the north. Interestingly, the West Coast Lady does not occur much further south, and is absent from Costa Rica. So it is surprising that the South American Four Eyed Lady, (Vanessa carye), which seems to be con-specific (the same species) with the West Coast Lady, is so widespread in South America, and also it is interesting that the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is absent in South America, given how widespread it is across the world. Host Plants This species has a far more restricted range of host plants than the Painted Lady, (Vanessa cardui). The optimum host-plants are Malvacea, (mallows, especially M. parviflora), Sidalceas, Hollyhocks (Alcea), and Globe Mallows, (Sphaeralcea). However, for breeding, I use Stinging Nettles. Page 7

9 The American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) Range The American Painted Lady is found in the whole of North America south to Costa Rica. It is more common in the east than the west, and is also found in Hawaii. This species is also a very rare migrant to Europe, and is known as Hunters Painted Lady there. It is the most cold tolerant of all the Painted Ladies and can survive winters in the northern US. It seems capable to overwinter both as a pupae and an adult in the north. It is very widespread but is not often seen in great numbers, just like the other two Painted Lady species. Further south in South America, there are a number of different Painted Lady species that are closely related to the American Painted Lady. Host Plants Host plants include Everlasting, (Gnaphalium, Antennaria, Anaphalis) and other Composites. This is a much smaller range of host plants than the others, but also it will take stinging nettles! Page 8

10 The South American Painted Ladies and How to Identify Them Note: The photos of the North American species will help you identify the Painted Lady species that you have caught in the US and Canada. In Central and South America, identification between the species becomes much easier, as the differences are easier to observe as seen above. Page 9

11 The Banded Lady (Vanessa myrinna) The Banded Lady is found in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It is more at home surrounding tropical forest, but is never found within them. It spreads to drier areas where it tends to lose it s flame red colour and becomes more orange in colour. It is continuously brooded and can be found at any time of the year in suitable habitat. Like all the Painted Ladies, this is a fast flyer and not easily captured unless nectaring. The males often congregate in small groups on wet mud. It s host plants are Achycroline species, and Gamochaeta species. It takes Stinging Nettle in captivity. The Chilean Lady, (Vanessa Terpsichore) This species is restricted to the west of the Andes in Chile, and a little further north into Peru and Bolivia. It seems that the Andes are a barrier to this species spreading eastwards, as it is not especially associated with high altitudes and can be found at Coast level in Chile. I have never seen it in Argentina, even when visiting the Eastern slopes of the Andes, close to the border with Chile. This is another fast flier and not easily caught! The larvae feed on Achyrocline species, Gamochaeta species and Gnaphalium species, however, it will take Stinging Nettle in captivity. The Two Eyed Lady, (Vanessa braziliensis) This species is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Northern Argentina. It is a beautiful, bright red species of Painted Lady! Also, it is one of my favourites and is very common in my garden here in Argentina, where it flies with V. carye. It is fairly widespread and common throughout its range. As with all the Ladies it is a very active and fast flier and can only be caught with confidence when nectaring. It has the habit of flying to the ground, and as you approach, it flies off and resettles, like many of its relative species. It doesn t rely on tropical, wet habitat and is equally at home in dry, arid areas as it is on the edge of rain forests. Host plants for this species are, Achyrocline, Antennaria, Gamochaeta and Pseudognapalium. The Four Eyed Lady (Vanessa carye) The recognised range for this species is Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, and Uruguay. It does not seem to be found north of this range, which is curious. In my view this is actually the same species as the West Coast Lady (V. annabella) from the U.S., and appears to be almost identical to this US species in every way. You may like to compare the photos provided in this paper to make up your own mind! If so, it seems odd that two races of the same species can be so widely separated but retain the same features. Maybe we are watching evolution in progress here, and in time they will separate! Page 10

12 This is a common species in Argentina, and behaves exactly the same way as all other Ladies - fast flying and not particularly bothered about its biotype except it is never found in closed forests. I see this species flying in my garden every month of the year, often in company with the Two Eyed Lady (Vanessa braziliensis). You can spot the differences quite easily in flight as the Two Eyed Lady is bright red alongside this species. The host plants recorded are a huge number of plants from the families Bignoniaceae, Compositae, Dipsacaceae, Geraniaceae, Malvaceae and Urticaceae. In captivity, like all the Painted Ladies I have bred, it also does very well on Stinging Nettles! The Andes Lady (Vanessa altissima) The Andes Lady is a high altitude species found in Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Although I have not seen it here in Argentina, I would not be surprised to find it in the northern Andean mountains here, adjoining Bolivia and Chile. The behaviour of the adults is exactly the same as all the other Painted Ladies - a fast, energetic flight, and it is very difficult to catch unless nectaring on flowers. It remains active at quite low temperatures, and is often difficult to approach. Each time you get close to it, it flies off for another 20 feet or so to resettle again. The larvae feed on Antennaria species and Gnaphalium species. However, I am certain they will also take Stinging Nettles! Australia and the Rest of the World Outside the Americas As previously mentioned, unless you live in the Americas, you only have one Painted Lady species to contend with - so identification is easy! It is always The Painted Lady, (Vanessa cardui)! However, although there is only one species present in Australia, and this has been renamed (from Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui) to The Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi). I have never seen this butterfly when I have been in Australia, nor have I bred it, so have little knowledge about it to add here. However, my thoughts on this species are as follows. I have not seen the scientific description which separates these species, so I rely totally on royalty free images from the internet to show this species. The distribution of this species in Australia is mainly in the eastern side of the country, ranging from tropical Queensland to the far south, and also Hobart in Tasmania. (Tasmania is the island found off the south-western tip of Australia.) It then spreads along the coastal regions to the west, and then north up the western coast to a little further north than Perth. It s only seen flying in the winter months in the far northeast, and never on the wing further south at this time. It relies on migration to reinforce the population in the colder regions in the south of the country in the spring. Page 11

13 The larvae feed on Everlasting Daisies (Helichrysum species) and the introduced Cape- Weed (Arctotheca calendula). Although not shown as a host plant in literature on this species, I am prepared to put money on the fact it will also take Stinging Nettles! The Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) - It looks identical to the world-wide Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) to me! Page 12

14 II. The Red Admirals The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is so distinctive in colour and pattern it is hard to make a mistake when considering an identification. However, as seen below, there are actually only two places in the world where this becomes a little more difficult! The Red Admirals of this world are far easier to separate into their individual species, than the Painted Ladies! (OK, you do have a Yellow Admiral in Australia and New Zealand, but the wing pattern is pretty much the same as the Red Admiral, so you just have to substitute red for yellow to make your identification!) Wherever you live in the world, you ll only have one species flying! Of course, having said that, to my knowledge there are actually only a very few places in the world where you may see two similar, but different Red Admiral species flying together, and unless you live in these places then there really is no confusion. These places are Hawaii, where you may have a little confusion in identifying between the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and the endemic or native Kamehameha Admiral (Vanessa tameamea). However, it is a fairly easy separation as the base of all the wings (nearest the body) are either much paler brown, or even bright red in the Kamehameha Admiral, and are never black like the Red Admiral always is. And also possibly in New Zealand, the New Zealand endemic Red Admiral (Vanessa gororilla) may be confused with the introduced European Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). Photo comparisons are found later. Page 13

15 The only other places are the Canary Islands, which are situated off the northwest coast of Africa and southern Europe (see distribution below). Here you have two very similar Red Admirals, the normal Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) that many of us know so well, and the Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica). Now this species has a very curious distribution! It is resident Madera, the Canary Islands, Southern Spain and Southern Portugal. Then, nothing until it reappears again, in northern India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan! Further details found later in this paper. The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) This is essentially a butterfly of the Northern Hemisphere, found in North America, Hawaii and Bermuda (where it has a sub-specific name of rubria), North Africa, Europe and across to temperate Asia and Siberia. As far as I am currently aware, it may also possibly occur in small isolated pockets in New Zealand, where it is either now extinct or excessively rare. It was assumed to have been introduced by early settlers to remind them of home in the UK. However, if this ever did happen, these early settlers must have been unaware of the even more beautiful New Zealand Red Admiral (Vanessa gonerilla). The Red Admiral is not found in South America, or in Africa south of the Sahara desert, or Australia. The Red Admiral is a great migrant and flies north each spring to repopulate areas that are far too cold for it to overwinter. However, even quite far north, the adults will try and overwinter and this is a much hardier butterfly than the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). It will often try and enter a garden shed, and kept out of direct frost can survive as far north as the UK in the winter as an adult. Of course, although this is a very common butterfly, most larvae, pupae and adults perish in the winter period. There is slim evidence of this species having a southward migration in the fall. Essentially a Nettle feeder, it does not accept any other host plants than the Nettle family (Urtiacaea). Although there are records of it feeding on Hops (Humulus species) in North America, I have not confirmed this. Another host plant from the Nettle family which is not stinging nettle, is Pellitory-of-the-wall (Parienaria species, especially P. officinalis) Page 14

16 The Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta) shown on the left flies with the Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica) shown on the right, in a few locations. The Indian Red Admiral is usually a deeper red in clour and always has black markings interrupting the red bands on the wings. The Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica) As mentioned before, this has a strange distribution in the Northern Hemisphere ranging from an isolated population on the Atlantic Islands off southern Spain/African Coast, to southern Spain and Portugal, and then a great gap until the far East. When collecting in the Canary Islands I wondered just how two so similar species with the same apparent habits could co-exist, without one species becoming dominant and one species becoming extinct. However, when I looked a little deeper into the situation, I noticed that the Indian Red Admiral seemed to favor slightly higher altitudes than the common Red Admiral. Even though there were many places where these two species flew together, I did notice (after a lot of hard work and observation) that the Indian Red Admiral preferred to lay her eggs on the large-leaved Stinging Nettle (Urtica dubia) while the common Red Admiral chose the ordinary and smaller-leaved Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). This was interesting, as I had no trouble obtaining eggs from either species in captivity regardless of the species of nettle I used. This just goes to confirm that butterflies in captivity do not behave the same way as in the wild! This species is obviously much more cold sensitive than the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), and in captivity overwintered as small larvae that were kept in cool conditions but well above freezing, at around 5 o C. minimum (41 o F.). In periods of sunshine and higher temperatures, the larvae started to feed sporadically then stopped feeding as the temperatures dropped. I have a feeling that in the wild this is a continuously brooded species, and not expecting any periods of cold weather at any stage as experienced in the north during winter. Page 15

17 The Kamehameha Admiral (Vanessa tameamea) This butterfly is endemic to Hawaii, and is one of the few Red Admirals I have never bred. I am relying on notes from others to complete this description. However, I have no reason to believe it would behave very differently from all the other Vanessa species described in this paper. This butterfly is actually quite common, so I was somewhat astounded by seeing collectors prices for perfect specimens! It is one of only two species of butterfly found in Hawaii that is endemic, (found only on Hawaii). It inhabits woodlands edges, and the edges of vegetation in the volcanic areas. It, like all the other Vanessas is never found within the actual forest or dense woodland. It loves to rest on tree trunks, and sipping weeping sap from boring-beetle infected trees, or just basking in the sun with its wing spread wide. It has many broods in the year and is considered a continually brooded species. Its host-plants are all from the Nettle family, and include, Mamake, (Pipturus albidus) Olana, (Touchardia species) and Opahe, (Urera species). The Hawaiian Red Admiral (Kamehameha butterfly) is a beautiful species, and is common on the main Islands. It also flies with the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) but is usually easily separated. This specimen has quite dark wing bases, and some specimens have much more red extending towards the body on both fore and hind-wings. I imagine that any Hawaiian breeders would find a ready market in Europe for livestock of this butterfly! Page 16

18 The Yellow Admiral (Vanessa lutea) The Yellow Admiral is found in Australia and New Zealand, a lovely butterfly that is slightly smaller than most of the other species of Admirals. It is a fast and active flier, like all the other admirals in the world! The larvae feed on Stinging Nettles, of course! The Yellow Admiral is found in both Australia and New Zealand. Interestingly, the adults are larger in New Zealand than in Australia. In Australia they are restricted to the southeast of the country with a broken distribution along the coastal regions, as far west as Perth and a little to the north along the coast. They do not tolerate wet tropical conditions! The adults are active during the warmer months of the year, and in captive breeding, I found that both the adults and the larvae will overwinter, as long as they are not subjected to temperatures much below 4 o C, (39 o F.). It is a very long-lived butterfly, with the norm for adults to live for two months or more. They actively nectar from flowers, but also like to feed from rotting fruit and weeping sap from trees. Page 17

19 As usual with the Red Admiral group of butterflies, the larvae feed on native Nettles, but do really well on Stinging Nettles, and this is the host plant I have used with the best results. The larvae feed during the night, and hide in the day, inside curled leaves, held together with silk threads, like so many of the Vanessa species. The New Zealand Red admiral (Vanessa gonorilla) The New Zealand Red Admiral, in my view, is the most beautiful of all the admirals. I particularly like the bright blue spots in the hind-wing, surrounded by a bright red band. It is an endemic species, and is totally restricted to New Zealand. The New Zealand Red admiral (Vanessa gonorilla) is my favourite butterfly from all of the Red/Yellow Admiral species from around the world, and I have bred it many times. This Red Admiral is entirely restricted to New Zealand, and is found no where else. A fast flier like all the Vanessa butterflies, it is found in open habitats and often at some altitude, where patches of its host plants (Nettles) are common. Page 18

20 In private communication with Jacqui Knight for New Zealand, I understand that this is not a common species and seems to be restricted to pockets of suitable biotype in both the North and South Island on New Zealand. I mentioned earlier that there are old tales of early settles introducing the European Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) to New Zealand, to remind them of home. I am beginning to think this is an, old wives tale, and sightings of this species confused these settlers into thinking it was the same species as they saw in the UK. There seems little or no evidence to suggest that the European Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) occurs in New Zealand, and if it ever did it is most likely now extinct there. The New Zealand Red Admiral is an easy species to breed on Stinging Nettles, and the larvae overwinter well if given some protection from frost. They will nibble at the host plant on warmer days and become dormant when the weather is cold. III. Migration Painted Lady and Red Admirals Many of the Painted Lady and Red Admiral species are great migrants, and rely on migration to populate suitable breeding areas, often much further north than where they could possibly survive the winter. This may seem an odd thing to do when we consider human life spans, but for a butterfly lifespan, a migrant can ensure several generation in a year before conditions become unsuitable for it to pass through the winter. Although this may seem a dead-end to survival, the species can maintain itself in much larger numbers by doing so. I mentioned before in this paper, that unlike the Monarch, (D. plexippus) these migrations are essentially one way, and there is scant evidence of any Painted Ladies or Red Admirals returning south as the winter progresses, in any numbers. The numbers involved in migration north vary considerably from year to year, and in some of the more northern regions, Painted Ladies and Red Admirals can be scarce or even absent in some years, and then incredibly common in other years. What triggers these migrations is not fully understood. To help have a better understanding of what is actually occurring during these migrations, I would urge any of you that have made personal observations to document them and report this interesting and very useful information to one of the scientific research institutes that concentrates on butterflies. I would also love to hear about your own personal experiences with migration! My own personal observations with migrations from these Vanessa, species are restricted to the UK, Europe and Africa. Of course, during my travels I have seen these Vanessa species in many other different countries from around the world, but have never seen them in full migration mode there. My account of what I have seen follows. The Painted Lady (like most of the other Vanessas) does not do well in wet, hot, tropical conditions. They are quite happy to take high temperatures as long as they are not humid. In the warmer regions of the world there is a resident population, which will be most Page 19

21 common in the dry season. As soon as the wet season arrives, these butterflies become scarce, moving to higher altitudes in the mountains. They are continuously brooded, and just change their altitude requirements as the climate changes, and they repopulate the lower regions as dry conditions resume. In January 1983, while living in Khartoum, The Sudan, in Africa I saw the biggest migration of Painted Ladies I have ever seen! The Sudan around and north of Khartoum is desert, and not even a single blade of grass grows without irrigation. The temperatures can reach 50 o C. +, (122 o f. +) - this is only bearable as the humidity is close to zero! However, the only reason Khartoum exists is because the city is built at the confluence of where the White Nile, (From Uganda) and the Blue Nile, (originates in the Ethiopian highlands) meet, and then flow northwards through Sudan to Egypt and the Sea. This provides irrigation and for a mile or so on each side of the river, the horticulture begins. They seem to be able to grow anything there all year round in this climate. Of course also along the Nile, there is natural vegetation, mostly of stunted Acacia trees. OK, I ve set the scene for you, now the observation! Painted Ladies were not uncommon along the Nile, however, in January 1983, there was the most amazing migration! I have to say the amount of butterflies involved in this migration was hundreds of millions of individuals. It started with a sprinkling of individuals, which had a marked change in their behavior. They all seemed less interested than normal in nectaring, and all had a determined route in mind to fly north. Within a day or so these numbers increased enormously, and there were times when the sky seemed to be full of Painted Ladies, all flying north along the river Nile. In the evening of the fourth day, I went to discover if they would settle or fly on through the night. (Don t be too surprised by this, as migrating butterflies will often fly throughout the day and night in their determination to move where they want to go!) I approached an area called the Sunt Forest, along the Nile. This was an area which was untouched by humans - a tangle of scrub Acacia trees. To start with, I had to rub my eyes, as I couldn t believe what I was seeing! The whole area looked as though a strange fruit had grown, but it was clusters of Painted Ladies in their millions! Within a week they had gone north and everything returned to normal, and I saw the occasional Painted Lady nectaring as normal. I only ever saw this happen once in the four years I lived in the Sudan. The second experience was in the 1990 s, from the final destination of a Painted Lady migration in the UK. (This was not the same year as the Sudan migration, of course.) I say final destination, but in fact the migration I saw was still flying north. Their general behavior had changed though, and although there was still a determination by many individuals to fly north, many also settled and became sedentary. This far north, the Page 20

22 concentration of butterflies had spread into a wide front, but still represented millions of individuals which at any one time, wherever you stood - you could see five to ten individuals flying through at the peak of the migration. This lasted for some five days. The Painted Lady became the commonest butterfly in the UK that year. However, the following year it was scarce! The Red Admirals are usually more dependable as migrators, and although there are years where they may be scarce in the north of their range, they generally appear every year in good numbers. The Red Admirals never seem to form huge migration clouds of butterflies as seen in with the Painted Ladies and other migratory butterfly species. Their migrations are often composed of small groups of butterflies in patchy numbers, but they all determined just the same to fly north (or south in Australia and New Zealand) as the spring arrives to populate new breeding areas. I have seen many migrations by other species of butterflies in my life including an unusual and huge migration of Swallowtails in Central Africa. Current literature suggests that Swallowtails do not migrate! IV. Hostplants I have often written about the suitability of host plants, when breeding butterflies for optimum egg laying. In short, for most butterfly species, there are many host plant options to choose from. These can range from an optimum host plant, where you will get the maximum amount of eggs in captivity, through to acceptable host plants, and then to marginal host plants, where you may even find the egg laying and larval development is very difficult under captive breeding conditions. The Painted Lady species from around the world often have a great range of host plants that they will use in the wild. Also, they are mostly different for each species, and especially so where you have a number of different Painted Lady species in competition with each other, living together in the same location and biotype. However, when it comes to breeding in captivity, things change with the Vanessa butterflies! Although I personally have never ever actually found a single egg or larvae of any Painted Lady species on Stinging Nettles in the wild, unusually, Stinging Nettles are a great host plant for breeding all these species in captivity. In my experience the Stinging Nettles seem to be a sort of skeleton key host plant which all the species will willingly use for laying and feeding. The Red Admirals are quite different of course, and all of their known host plants come from the Nettle family, (Urticaceae species). They do really well in captivity on Stinging Nettles. Page 21

23 Why use Stinging Nettles? Well there is a reason! And much more on this subject of course in Article Three, which will give details on how best to breed these butterflies with the minimum work and effort by you! V. Some Strange Ladies All of the Painted Ladies and Red Admirals are usually very consistent in wing pattern and colours. Aberrations in the wild are extremely rare, however, these can be produced by breeders. I briefly mentioned earlier in this paper that you can turn a 50-cent Painted Lady into a $100 cabinet specimen! Butterfly collectors go wild for good aberrations like these shown on the next page. Even though we never see the wing colours forming inside the pupa until it is about to emerge, the cells that produce pattern and colour form inside the pupa at the point of pupation. It is a fairly simple procedure to produce aberrations, but do be aware you will get see some losses, especially when you start experimenting - until you find the exact timing for cold exposure to the forming pupae that suits your freezer. Freezers are all different, however, many modern freezers have a thermostat for dialing in the temperature desired. In general freezers operate between 12 o f., (-11 o C.) and 0f, (-18 o C). Exposure to cold obviously varies on how cold it is inside the freezer. Use a small, insulated styrene box and place the forming pupa inside for about 20 to 30 minutes. Use pupae that are formed but still soft. If you wait too long and let the pupa harden, you will fail. Apart from killing a lot of pupae, the adults will emerge with normal patterns and colours. It is vital to use pupae that have just formed and are still soft, as this is the time the colour cell organise themselves with the pupa. The key to achieving aberrations is to subject the forming, soft pupae to the most time and cold that the pupae can tolerate. The longer you expose the pupae to extreme cole, the more strange the emerging adults will be! However, the longer you expose the pupae to extreme cold, the more pupae will die, as conditions become too extreme for survival. I had a friend in the UK who spent all his time breeding nothing but aberrations for the collectors market, and made a good living by doing this. He consulted a refrigeration engineer and had him build a special freezing cabinet with a very sensitive thermostat, to control the temperature inside, between 32 o f. (0 o C.) and 0f, (-18 o C.) by increments of just a few points of a degree! The beauty of creating the aberrations is that no two butterflies will emerge with the same colour and wing pattern - they will all be different! You will never know what you have achieved until they emerge as adults! Here are a couple of examples shown in the next photo. Page 22

24 ALL Nymphalid butterflies are susceptible to producing fine aberrations when subjected to extreme cold at the point of pupation, and not just the Vanessa group. However, as a rule, (and you would expect this) the more tropical species are less tolerant to long exposure than the temperate species. It is worth experimenting with longer exposure and not-so-low temperatures too, but the key is that you have to get below freezing to succeed. Do bear in mind that although these aberrations may not be as pretty as the normal adults, to a collector they are worth a lot of money! Although the following are not all Vanessa species, before we leave this subject, I want to show a few photos of what can be achieved with other Nymphalid species, using cold exposure to their pupae. Page 23

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26 Anyway, this section of this paper was a bit of fun for you to try, but remember you can make money with this! I do hope you think about using cold experiments, as there is always a time when you may have excess stock, and the species you can try with is endless! Now try some heat! As I wrote above, I detailed the requirements for producing butterfly aberrations using extreme cold. Do be aware that you can also create these strange pattern and colour forms using heat! The real difference using heat is that the butterflies will be much brighter or paler than usual, and of course the wing patterns will be affected too! You still have to catch the correct moment at the point of pupation to be successful, just the same as you need to do for the extreme cold system. Have fun and try both systems! Remember that no two butterflies you produce using these techniques will look the same! Page 25

27 Thanks and hope you enjoyed this article and the workshop discussions! The Painted Lady & Longwing Articles This is the first in a series of four articles in this section. It is intended to give an introduction to understanding and identifying the Painted Ladies and Red Admirals from around the world. Workshop Article Article follows with an introduction to understanding and identifying the Longwing butterflies (Heliconid) of the Americas. Workshop Article Article goes into some depth on breeding the butterflies from both these families as they share common breeding requirements. This article covers breeding these butterflies using natural host plants. Workshop Article Article instructs on raising Painted Ladies on artificial diets. The article provides several professional butterfly farmers methods to successfully raise healthy and beautiful butterflies using special diets instead of live host plants. Methods and instructions are provided by Melanie McCarthy (The Monarchy Butterfly Farm), Linda Rogers (Timshell Farm), and the late Dean Kirkwood (Kirkwood Butterfly Company). Many thanks to Dean s wife, Pam Kirkwood, for sharing Dean s raising methods with the butterfly world. Since I raise only on live host plant, I thought it best to have these professionals who have perfected the use of artificial diets, provide this information. I am grateful to these contributors for their parts in this chapter, which rounds out the breeding instruction! Acknowledgments Thank you to Todd Stout for supplying the photos of Vanessa annabella shown on page 4 of this article. The photos of Vanessa kershawi came from a royalty free site on the internet. All other photos are my own and are Copyright from the Butterfly Boutique. Thank you to Henry Rich, from Australia, who gave me much information on the status of Vanessa cardui and Vanessa kershawi in Australia. Thanks to Linda Rogers and Paul Chesterfield, who are my Butterfly Boutique partners for spending endless hours making sense of what I wrote, proof reading and then turning it into an article that is well presented and readable! And always, my thanks to Gracie, my wife, best friend and butterfly buddy in the whole world! Nigel Venters, Argentina, October 2012 Page 26

28 The Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) - This is a great host plant for all these species of Vanessa butterflies. Page 27