Talk:Cynthia (butterfly)

Taxobox
Do we need such a detailed taxobox? - if it was a bird, I'd chop it dramaticallay, but I don't know the consensus for insects.jimfbleak 07:05, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The concensus is that they're a bad thing, as per WikiProject Tree of Life. Please don't hesitate to simplify them. If any truly pertinent information is removed, someone will replace it; most of this is probably just an attempt to be as thorough as possible. Josh 07:24, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * Removed some of the taxobox clutter. DGERobertson (talk) 15:41, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Vanessa virginiensis
I took this out of the gallery; I don't think it is V. virginiensis as it lacks the distinguishing wihte spot inside the forewing orange field. Although the pattern of blue pupils on the hindwing is unusual, the orangeness of the leading edge makes me think this is V. anabella. On the other hand, since it was shot in North Carolina I would tend to say it is V. cardui. cardui sometimes has the blue pupils in summer, and this was shot in September. Opinions? --User:Chinasaur
 * Good points. See my talk page response for my take on this identification.--Cotinis 16:24, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Additional note. I just looked at Glassberg, Butterflies Through Binoculars--the East, and he gives a character to differentiate, saying that in V. virginiensis two prominent dark bands on forewing above are not connected, but in V. cardui, they are. His photo of V. virgiensis matches mine on that character, and, incidentally, has its white spot on the orange ground almost non-existent. Glassberg's photos also match mine on the forewing-notch character--V. virginiensis has a slightly falcate forewing, V. cardui's is more rounded. So, yes, I am confident (now!) my photo is V. virginiensis.--Cotinis 03:09, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * See this BugGuide page, where I did a detailed comparison. --Cotinis 19:09, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Host plants & nectar sources
Added more information regarding host plants and nectar sources. Some information from personal experience (I raise Painted Ladies and Monarchs as a hobby) and others from a field guide I own. chalicerae 17:02, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

There is good info that I can never find anywhere else.

Disambiguation
This page suffers from the usual identity crisis: Confusion about common names vs. species epithets. The page is a redirect from Vanessa cardui, a specific animal. Yet the page describes various and sundry animals sharing (pieces of) a common name.

A page purporting to describe a species should not dump one in a catch-all page of commonly named animals; common names are capricious and ordinary and subjective and local. Unless and until Wikipedia solves this very common problem, credibility is in the toilet. Nickrz 12:41, 10 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi Bruce,
 * This problem is likely to be resolved soon. WikiProject Lepidoptera is likely to finalise on the issue 'scientific names' vs çommon names' and consensus as of now appears to be in favour of scientific name. You can see the proceedings on the talk page. You are welcome to express your opinion there where it would be more relevant than here. AshLin 16:27, 10 August 2007 (UTC)


 * The consensus clearly never occurred, so if we are going to deal with Bruce's point, we need some other mechanism. I propose the following – and am quite happy to carry it out, if there is agreement (given the lack of contributions to this page, anyone agreeing will do for me!):
 * Copying the whole page to "Vanessa cardui" (...wait for it!)
 * Removing the taxobox and reworking the intro of "Painted Lady" to make it generic
 * Removing the Vanessa cardui gallery and Commons tag from "Painted Lady"
 * Fixing the "References" section on "Painted Lady" (or deleting it)
 * Removing the section "Distinguishing features" from the page "Vanessa cardui" and replacing with a cross-reference and wikilink to "Painted Lady"
 * Providing similar cross-references and Wikilinks to "Painted Lady" from other Vanessa spp. pages
 * In due course, as part of my British butterflies project, I will upgrade the text with key reference(s) from the UK

—GRM (talk) 11:28, 21 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Support. Clearly a case where there is more than one meaning to the term. Species articles are best under their scientific names, especially when the name is common to other species or other cultural references. AshLin (talk) 07:49, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

✅—GRM (talk) 15:33, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 20:10, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

Migrating Painted lady butterflies in a 70-mile-wide wave is caught on radar

 * https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/article177123731.html
 * October 2017

69.181.23.220 (talk) 17:20, 4 September 2018 (UTC)