100 BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA. 



THE THISTLE BUTTERFLY or THE PAINTED LADY. Vanessa cardui. 



Linn. Fig. 79. 



Fig. 79. Vanessa cardui. 



Butterfly — Pyrameis cardui, or tlie Painted Lady, has an upper sur- 

 face of fulvous color, the apical portion of the fore wings being black. 

 There is a white bar in the apical black portion of the fore wings and a 

 submarginal row of four white spots; the inner ones being the smaller. 

 The underside of the fore wings is red except the apical part which is 

 marked as above. The hind wings have a submarginal row of five black 

 spots. Both wings have a border, the hind wings having a broken one. 

 The underside of the hind wing is marbled with brown, gray and white. 

 The ocelli contain blue. The inner row of the margin is blue or lilac. 

 Expanse of wing 1.75 to 2.5 inches, 45 to 64 mm. 



Early Stages — The mature larva is 1.5 in. long, cylindrical, rather 

 robust. The general color is a delicate lilac. Between the joints are 

 two lines of bright yellow. The space between the yellow occupied by 

 two narrow black lines and one white one. There are seven rows of 

 tubercles from which arise branching spines. The head is black, stigmata 

 black with some black spots over the body. 



Distribution — Most widely distributed of all known butterflies, being 

 found in almost all parts of the temperate regions of the earth and in 

 many tropical lands in both hemispheres. It is double brooded and hiber- 

 nates in the butterfly state. Found all over Europe, North America, 

 in Africa, — save in the dense jungles of the Congo. — in South America, 

 in Australia and in many islands of the sea; at some times scarce and 

 then at seasons it fairly swarms. (Holland.) 



One of these swarms visited Montana in the spring of 1899. During 

 late May and early June there were hundreds and thousands everywhere 

 in the western part of the state, noted especially at Missoula and Helena. 

 So abundant were they that they were noticed by all, and considerable 

 alarm was felt by some lest there should occur later an outbreak of an 

 insect pest. Happily this did not occur. 



