The Red Admiral and Painted Lady Research Site

This is a web site to coordinate observations of territorial behavior, migration, life history, population studies, seasonal variations in abundance and body size, and number of broods per year (voltinism) of butterflies in the genus Vanessa, including

Vanessa atalanta, V. cardui, V. virginiensis, V. annabella, V. tameamea, and V. kershawi.

(Red Admiral, Painted Lady, American Lady, West Coast Lady, Kamehameha Butterfly, and Australian Painted Lady).

Although the lady butterflies of the genus Vanessa are not as familiar or as well-studied as the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), their behavior and migration are likewise well worth observing. Much remains to be discovered about their habits and how their behavior and seasonal distribution varies by geographic location. Observers and experimenters ranging from casual to serious can discover new and valuable information about these butterflies. The list below links to more detailed information, including summaries of published findings and methods for observing these fascinating butterflies.

• Basic Information on the Species
• Perching and Territorial Behavior
  • Observing Methods
  • An Ethogram for the Red Admiral - Recognizing behavioral acts
  • Butterfly Territorial Contest Dynamics - Distinguishing true territorial behavior
  • Painted Lady Research, Portal, Arizona (photos)
    
• Biogeography and Migration: The Vanessa Migration Project
  • Our Interactive Map! Click either image below to open the interactive map page. Left: full screen; right: frame.
  • The map currently shows observations up to July 13, 2010. Full interactive map capability will be restored as soon as possible.
  • How to Use Our Interactive Map (detailed instructions)

  Sample views from our interactive map. Left: The 2005 Painted Lady migration. Right: Migratory directions, southern California, spring 2005.

  • Help track the 2011 North American Migration!
    • How to Report Your Observations - introducing our
      data entry form for the interactive map database
  • Instructions for finding your latitude and longitude
  • Reporting form for registered observers
  • The reporting form is currently inactive due to problems with the Iowa State University Geographical Information Systems (GIS) server. Please send your observations directly to Royce Bitzer (mariposa@iastate.edu) for the time being. We are working to restore full service to our interactive mapping and reporting system.
  • From March 25 to April 5, 2011: Please send your observations to Rebecca Christoffel (christof@iastate.edu) during this time. Thank you!
  • How to register
    
• More on Migration
  • Observing Methods for more detailed migration studies
  • El Niño and Painted Lady Migrations
  • News Stories of the 2001 Migrations
  • 2001 North American Migration Maps
  • 2002 North American First Sighting Maps
  • 2003 North American First Red Admiral Sighting Maps
  • 2003 North American First Painted Lady Sighting Data
  • 2003 North American First American Lady Sighting Data
  • 2003 North American First West Coast Lady Sighting Data
  • Late Summer 2003 Painted Lady Outbreak
  • 2001 - 2010 Observations: View Interactive Map
    
• Red Admiral Life History
• Population Studies
• Voltinism and Seasonal Variation in Body Size
• Links to Various Interesting and Useful Sites
• Weather and Climate Links

This site was most recently updated on March 24, 2011. The map is updated as new observations are added.

Visit our other web site:

Marina Mesopotamica -- The journal of the Marine Science Centre, University of Basrah, Iraq, is reborn as an online marine science and wetland journal. This journal is a cooperative project between the Iowa State University Iraq Initiative Group and the University of Basrah.

e-mail: mariposa@iastate.edu

The Red Admiral and Painted Lady Research Site is a partner with the Iowa State University GIS Facility, Iowa NatureMapping, and the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

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