Each spring, Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus) migrates into Europe, sometimes in huge numbers. Although it is widely accepted that migrants come from North Africa, there is currently a dearth of information on the source areas they originate from. However, in a recent study, a strong association between V. cardui arriving in spring in Catalonia (NE Spain) and synoptic-scale winds originating in North Africa was found, which allowed us to predict the most likely location for the source areas in the Maghreb. In March 2009 we organized an expedition to confirm in situ the occurrence of immature stages and/or emerging adults at one of the hypothetical breeding areas in Morocco. Immatures were found at virtually all the sampled sites, with the maximum abundance being recorded in the Souss valley. Breeding habitats with plenty of thistles and mallows were sufficiently common to permit populations of great density to build up. We found a massive emergence site of 1.8 ha with an estimated population of 170,000 larvae, of which 155,000 had successfully pupated, the rest having been parasitised by the wasp Cotesia vanessae. Bird predation of adults was also recorded at this site. Our observations, together with the typical patchy distribution of the ruderal habitats used for breeding, suggest that source populations most frequently originate in small habitat pockets with favourable conditions that allow for high patch occupancy and levels of oviposition.