Painted Lady

The wide-ranging Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica.  They invade North America every spring from northern Mexico, almost reaching northern Canada.  These butterflies, although relatively cold-tolerant, do not survive the northern winter, and re-invade our region every spring.  Last week I found this individual at a local farm.  Much of this information is from the Field Guide to Butterflies of South Dakota by Gary Marrone, and published by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks in 2002.