I think this past Memorial Day weekend was Nature’s way of apologizing for all of the crummy weather that we’ve had this spring. Each day seemed completely perfect until the next day arrived, shattering my previously held perception of perfection. All of this was intensified by the fact that I didn’t go anywhere for Memorial Day. My beautiful wife, Susan, and I enjoyed a much-needed stay-cation.
I spent every possible moment outside.
The perfect weather couldn’t erase the fact that my yard resembles an emergent freshwater wetland at this point. All of the rain we received prior to the three-day weekend was making the notion of mowing somewhat laughable. However, this provided me with an excuse to sit, relax and soak up some sun. I made the occasional barefoot foray out to the west side of the house, but when water squished up between my toes I declared mowing to be ‘impossible’ and happily retreated to my chair under the cottonwood tree. There I sipped coffee, read a book and listened.
The birds were going bananas, but what I most enjoyed hearing was Susan’s occasional exclamation of delight about one thing or another. To hear the breeze playing a symphony in the leaves of the cottonwood tree, while it also brought wafting waves of perfume from the lilac bushes that were in full bloom only 8 feet away, was blissful. The occasional laugh from Susan’s direction or the odd question about the identity of a particular bird song (which she is getting better and better at identifying, by the way) only made things better. The only manmade sounds that I could hear were sounds of joy coming from Susan.
At one point I heard her exclaim a single word — “Ooooh.” I looked up and I noticed a small butterfly, which had apparently been attracted to the lilac bushes. Susan, who likes the sun a bit more than me, was sitting with the lilac flowers only inches from her head. She was getting a real show. The bumblebees were buzzing around the flowers, drunk on nectar, and the occasional butterfly was showing up as well.
I glanced at the little insect and said, “That’s a lady.” Susan turned her head and tried to determine if I was joking or not.
Well, it turns out there is indeed a butterfly that is called a “lady.” To be precise, the butterfly we were looking at was an American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis). This species is sometimes confused with a Painted Lady (V. cardui), but the markings on the wings and the season in which I was seeing the butterfly helped me identify it as an American.
Both species are small, as butterflies go. The forewings are only about 1 inches long, making the wingspan of the butterflies about 2 ¼ inches. Both species are ‘brown’ butterflies with various checkers and blotches of white and orange on the wings. But the exact size and position of the blotches makes all of the difference. Even more interesting, the markings on the undersides of the wings are the most helpful when it comes to differentiating one species from another.
The American Lady has two large ‘eye’ spots on the undersides of the hind wings, whereas the Painted Lady has a line of four or five spots that are much smaller in size. If you can see her ‘eyes’ from a distance, you know you’re looking at an American Lady. This butterfly clearly had big eyes, so that made its identification easy.
Furthermore, the American Lady is an insect that will go through three generations in our area, whereas the Painted Lady will only have two generations. As a result, American Ladies are abundant in May, July and September, while the Painted Lady is abundant in July and August.
Keep your eyes open for these little beauties in the coming weeks. If the butterflies are flying, then summer can’t be that far away. Get out and enjoy as much of it as you can — which will be all the easier if you are in the company of a lady.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 22 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the Massachusetts State Parks and currently teaches high school biology and physics. Visit www.speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.