preview

Pest Profile

Satisfactory Essays

Pest Profile

Photo credit: Don Hall, University of Florida
Common Name: American lady
Scientific Name: Vanessa virginiensis
Order and Family: Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae
Size and Appearance:
The eggs are yellow-green. Larvae can be fully grown to approximately 1.4 inches in length with variable body colors. Pupae may be either greenish with purple markings or grayish with dark markings, with approximately 0.75 inches in length. They are attached by the terminal end to a small silk pad by the cremaster to hang vertically. The wing spread of adults is 1.75 to 2.40 inches. The upper surface of the wings is orange-brown with black margins while the front wings have white spots on the outer third. The lower side of the front wings has a bright pink area. Part of the forewing margin is concave, which makes it different from the similar and closely related painted lady, Vanessa cardui. There are a characteristic "cob-web" pattern and two large eye spots near the margin on the lower side of the hind wing, where there is a row of four smaller eye spots for the painted lady. …show more content…

The early season form is larger and more brightly colored while the late season form is smaller and is paler in color with reduced black markings.
Type of feeder (Chewing, sucking, etc.): Siphoning-sucking
Host plant/s:
American lady favors sunflower family plants. Pensylvania everlasting, Gamochaeta pensylvanica, spoonleaf purple everlasting, Gamochaeta purpurea, pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea, and pussytoes, Antennaria spp., are commonly used as larval hosts. Adults prefer floral nectar but also feed on sap, fermenting fruit, and mud. Flower nectar almost exclusively, including dogbane, aster, goldenrod, marigold, selfheal, common milkweed, and vetch.

Description of Damage: Caterpillars chew foliage, sometimes causing significant defoliation.

Get Access