Painted Lady

• Egidio Leitao
Painted Lady on Rubber Rabbitbrush

— In September 2021, we spent a few days in the Ruidoso, New Mexico, area. Besides hiking around the area, we also did some sightseeing in other places. On the day we went to White Sands NP, we noticed a beautiful mission church in Mescalero, NM. We decided we would stop there on the way back to Ruidoso.

On the way to visit the mission (it was open), I noticed a very large patch of rubber rabbitbrush with lots of pollinators. I must say that almost made me forget the purpose of our stop. I began capturing photos of all the activities I could catch with my camera. In particular, this painted lady butterfly in the photo above stole the scene. Of all the photos I captured, the one I feature here is my favorite. It was as if the butterfly was aware of my presence and made eye contact with the camera. I especially liked the strong presence of yellow hues both in the flowers and the butterfly. Nature’s palette is nothing short of extraordinary.

Painted Lady on Purple Coneflower

The previous and subsequent photos were captured at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a place that offers a lot of photo opportunities for macro, wildflower, and wildlife viewing. With their vibrant orange and black wings, painted lady butterflies are champion travelers. They are the most widely distributed butterfly species on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

Painted Lady on Texas Gayfeather

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