West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) is a small-medium butterfly, with a wingspan of 1.5 to 2.25 inches. It can be seen during all 12 months, although numbers are very low in December and January. Numbers are uniformly high April through October. Hosts plants include many plants in the Mallow family (Malvaceae) including Tree Mallow (Lavatera), Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea), Bush Mallow (Malvastrum), Mallow (Malva), Alkali Mallow (Sida), Checkerbloom (Sidalcea), and Hollyhock (Alcea).
There are two other Ladies we get in the Garden: American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). American Lady can be distinguished by the white dot it has in the large orange spot on the forewing; the West Coast Lady has no spot there. Painted Lady can be distinguished by looking at the largest spot in the black tip of the forewing. This is orange for West Coast Lady, but white for Painted Lady.
It is primarily a West Coast butterfly. It is found from the southern tip of British Columbia south through Mexico. There are less frequent sightings to the east from Montana to New Mexico, and even Texas; and to the south to Guatemala.
