West Coast lady it lacks obvious ventral eyespots on the hindwings; there are two large ones on "V. virginiensis" and four small ones on "V. cardui". Like the latter, it also lacks a white dot in the pinkish-orange subapical field of the ventral and dorsal forewings. Its upperwing coloration has the purest orange of the three; the American painted lady is usually quite reddish. A less reliable indicator is the row of black eyespots on the dorsal submarginal hindwing. These are usually of roughly equal size in "V. cardui" and lack blue centers, though the summer morph may have a few tiny ones.
Brachycaudus cardui have pinkish blotches on a dark green background. "B. cardui" has a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. The primary host of "B. cardui" is plum, cherry, apricot, peach or damson, but during the summer months it moves to a secondary host. This is often a thistle in the genera "Carduus" or "Cirsium" where it is commonly seen on the stems and flowerheads. Alternatively, other plants in the aster family or plants in the borage family (Boraginaceae) may be used as secondary hosts. Winged individuals fly back to the primary hosts in the autumn. Colonies of