Subtropical Lady

Vanessa carye · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae

Also called: Western Painted Lady

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Subtropical Lady
Photo: Edson Luis Fabro Gasperin, CC BY-SA

The Subtropical Lady (Vanessa carye) is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. Its caterpillars eat Achyrocline flaccida and several other plant species.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Vanessa carye belongs to the butterfly family Nymphalidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range covers the same South American region described for its habitat.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 6 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

Same family (Nymphalidae)

MonarchMonarchDanaus plexippusRed AdmiralRed AdmiralVanessa atalantaPainted LadyPainted LadyVanessa carduiGulf FritillaryGulf FritillaryDione vanillaeSpeckled WoodSpeckled WoodPararge aegeriaEuropean Peacock ButterflyEuropean Peacock ButterflyAglais io

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_carye

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.