On all of the plants we noticed something unusual that led us to look more closely.
Could these be the characteristic nests created by caterpillars of the American Lady butterfly?
Taking an even closer look.
What do we have here?
Vanessa virginiensis (Drury) has been known by a number of common names (Cech and Tudor 2005, Miller 1992) including American lady, American painted lady, painted beauty, and Hunter's butterfly. It will be referred to here as the American lady in accord with the Checklist of North American Butterflies Occurring North of Mexico (NABA 2004). Although the adult American lady is an attractive butterfly, it is probably best known among naturalists for the characteristic nests made by its caterpillars.
VISTA would like to offer a special thanks to the USF Rotaract volunteers for their help transplanting 5 new Sweet everlasting plants in the Wildflower Garden. Their efforts help add to the biodiversity in our gardens and makes us the "Airbnb" of choice for the American Lady Butterfly.
