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Painted Ladies

Bill Gracey/Flickr

The aptly named painted lady butterfly wears brush strokes and splatters of color on her wings. The top sides of her wings are oriole colors: orange with black blotches and white spots. Underneath, her wing color is a beautiful combination of pink, brown, olive, black and white.

Painted ladies are a medium size butterfly at just 2 inches across and are smaller than some other brush-footed butterflies like the well-known monarchs. But just like monarchs, the painted lady has a fascinating life history.

W. Brooks Paternotte took the helm of Irvine Nature Center as executive director in July 2013 and immediately began building on the strong 35-year foundation. Brooks is a Baltimore native who was a teacher, coach, advisor, dean and Head of the Middle School during his 13 years at Boys’ Latin School in Baltimore. He is also an instructor and ambassador of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and is a Leave No Trace Master, as well as an avid outdoorsman and a features writer for FlyLife Magazine.
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