American Lady butterfly with the two large (distinctive) eye spots on hind wings nectaring on Western Wallflower blossoms.

American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) Is a medium-size butterfly in the Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) family with a wingspan of 1.75-2.0 inches.
To distinguish from similar Painted and West Coast Ladies: “American Ladies have big eyes and an open mind.” The big eyes refer to the two large eye spots on the hind wings. (I'm not sure what the open mind refers to). Favorite food plants: Vetch, Pearly Everlastings, Mugwort and other plants in the Asteraceae family.

Butterflies of Monterey County: A comprehensive guide to finding and identifying 91 species of butterflies in Monterey County, Chris Tenney and Jan Austin, August 2023, pp. 136-137.

eButterfly: https://www.e-butterfly.org/ebapp/en/species/profile/262

Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West: a field guide to the butterflies of western North America, by Jeffrey Glassberg, 2001, pp. 188-189.

Bug photographs from the U.S/Canada for I.D: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Vanessa+virginiensis

Butterflies and Moths of North America https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Vanessa-virginiensis

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Butterfly and Caterpillar (General References)

Field Guide to California Insects, by Kip Will, J. Gross, D. Rubinoff , J. Powell, 2nd ed., 2020 (Lepidoptera, pp. 347-426)

BugGuide: Butterflies and Moths (U.S. and Canada) clickable categories or use search bar: https://bugguide.net/node/view/57

Glossary of Butterfly (and Moth) Terminology: https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/resources/glossary

Butterflies of Monterey County: A comprehensive guide to finding and identifying 91 species of butterflies in Monterey County, by Chris Tenney and photograher Jan Austin, August 2023, pp.xx and Butterflies of Monterey County (companion website to text): https://www.montereybutterflies.online/

eButterfly: (2115+ species) https://www.e-butterfly.org/ebapp/en/observations/explore

Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West: a field guide to the butterflies of western North America, by Jeffrey Glassberg, 2001

Butterflies of Central and Northern California, a laminated pamphlet (guide to common and notable species) by Jim Brock, 2023

Caterpillar Anatomy diagram and Butterfly Basics: https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/activities/printouts/caterpillarprintout.shtml Life Cycle of a Butterfly: Egg --> Larva (the caterpillar) --> Pupa (the chrysalis or cocoon) --> Adult.

Caterpillars: INaturalist Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-caterpillars

Wagner's Caterpillars of Western North America (coming soon) "1450+ species accounts in progress" INat thebals 6/6/23.

Variable Checkerspot nectaring on Western Wallflower blossoms.

Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) is a medium-size butterfly in the Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) family with a wingspan of 1.5-2 inches. The antennae are always orange, including the club. It's wing appearance is "variable," dependent on subspecies (and there are many ssp.) It has one flight March-July. It is found in open areas in oak woodland and chaparral, often along trails. Larval food plants include monkeyflowers and Paintbrush (Castilleja). It is a puddler.

Butterflies of Monterey County: A comprehensive guide to finding and identifying 91 species of butterflies in Monterey County, by Chris Tenney and photograher Jan Austin, August 2023, pp. 118-119.

eButterfly: https://www.e-butterfly.org/ebapp/en/species/profile/247

Link to observation of caterpillars on Orange Bush Monkeyflower plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/107807408
My favorite photo/observation of Variable Checkerspot face: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112100146 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/75128788

Butterflies Through Binoculars: pp. 170-173.

Butterflies and Moths of North America: https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Euphydryas-chalcedona

BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Euphydryas+chalcedona

Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Brock and Kaufman, 2003, pp. 194-195.

Butterflies & Their Favorite Flowering Plants: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park & Environs, Lynn and Gene Monroe, 2004, p. 73.

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Butterfly and Caterpillar (General References)

Field Guide to California Insects, by Kip Will, J. Gross, D. Rubinoff , J. Powell, 2nd ed., 2020 (Lepidoptera, pp. 347-426)

BugGuide: Butterflies and Moths (U.S. and Canada) clickable categories or use search bar: https://bugguide.net/node/view/57

Glossary of Butterfly (and Moth) Terminology: https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/resources/glossary

Butterflies of Monterey County: A comprehensive guide to finding and identifying 91 species of butterflies in Monterey County, by Chris Tenney and photograher Jan Austin, August 2023, pp.xx and Butterflies of Monterey County (companion website to text): https://www.montereybutterflies.online/

eButterfly: (2115+ species) https://www.e-butterfly.org/ebapp/en/observations/explore

Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West: a field guide to the butterflies of western North America, by Jeffrey Glassberg, 2001

Butterflies of Central and Northern California, a laminated pamphlet (guide to common and notable species) by Jim Brock, 2023

Caterpillar Anatomy diagram and Butterfly Basics: https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/activities/printouts/caterpillarprintout.shtml Life Cycle of a Butterfly: Egg --> Larva (the caterpillar) --> Pupa (the chrysalis or cocoon) --> Adult.

Caterpillars: INaturalist Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-caterpillars

Wagner's Caterpillars of Western North America (coming soon) "1450+ species accounts in progress" INat thebals 6/6/23.