An American Lady butterfly

An American Lady Lady Vanessa virginiensis butterfly visited the patio yesterday afternoon.

It landed on a buddleia flower head and stayed there a while sipping the nectar.

Look at those spectacular underwings in the image above, with the eye spots, orange area with a white spot, and otherwise intricate brown and white pattern.

And here she is again.

These butterflies are found in the Southern United States, Mexico and Central America.

These butterflies are said to be particularly fond of the nectar of asters, but will still feed on the nectar of a variety of flowers.

Their larva only feed on plants of the aster family.

Our climbing aster vine isn't blooming yet, but when it does, I hope these American Ladies lay their eggs there.