Perhaps you spotted them on La Cienega, flitting north by the thousands near the Westfield mall.

Maybe you saw them in Santa Anita, crossing a quiet residential street in a thick, fluttering line.



For the record: An earlier version of this article said Art Shapiro had counted 25,200 Painted Ladies at 10 sites in 2018 and 315,997 a year earlier. The numbers are 27 and 512, respectively.

You may have even commuted with hundreds of them along the 105 Freeway, where they furiously flapped their small wings as if they were trying to catch a flight at Los Angeles International Airport.