Vanessa cardui cardui

A reddish-orange, pink, blackish-brown, and white butterfly with a wingspan of 40-60 mm, females often larger; it is distinct and conspicuous but could be mistaken for the tortoiseshells or fritillaries, although the undersides are much lighter and there are dark forewing tips. The lady lives in all habitat types, like coasts, farmland, waste ground, riversides, waysides, woodland, meadows, grassland, hillsides, and stony slopes. Host plants are diverse and too numerous to write here, but include members of Compositae like burdock (Arctium minus), thistles (Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum spp.), knapweeds (Centaurea spp.), daisies (Chrysanthemum spp.), borage (Borago officinalis), viper’s-buglosses (Echium spp.), maidenlips (Lappula spp.), clovers (Trifolium spp.), goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.), a number of species of the mallow and mustard families, and many others. This migratory species flies throughout the year, its flight is strong and often perches on the ground.

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Photographs

Attribution: MichaD (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

 Attribution: Husein Zorkot

 Attribution: Husein Zorkot

Attribution: Harald Supfle (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Harald Supfle (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Harald Supfle (Wikipedia Creative Commons)