•DESI/MS/HRToFMS was used to analyze and image plant extracts after RP-HPTLC.•Extracts of 3 Silene species were profiled for ecdysteroids using two solvent systems.•DESI/MS was used to image HPTLC plates after both 1 and 2-dimensional development.•A range of phytoecdysteroids were detected and identified and imaged in the extracts.•The additional resolution provided by 2-dimensional TLC increased MS data quality. Reversed-phase high performance thin-layer chromatography (RP-HPTLC) on C18 bonded silica gel was combined with desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) and high resolution time of flight mass spectrometry (HRToFMS) to detect, characterize and image (MSI) phytoecdysteroids (plant-derived insect moulting hormones) in ethanolic extracts of members of the Silene plant family. As seen previously for silica gel, DESI provided a simple and convenient method for recovering polar polyhydoxysteroids from RP-HPTLC plates for the purposes of both the MS and MSI of extracts obtained from three species of the Silene family (Silene otites, S. nutans and S. viridiflora). Using RP-HPTLC/DESI/MSI/HRToFMS a number of ecdysteroids, including 20-hydroxyecdysone, polypodine-B, 2-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone and 2-deoxyecdysone were identified in these extracts. Differences were noted in the mass spectra obtained depending upon both the stationary phase on which they were separated, and the temperatures used in the heated transfer line used for introduction into the ion source. Ecdysteroids detected after chromatography on C18 bonded silica showed increased fragmentation due to water loss compared to those imaged from silica. In addition, the benefits of the additional resolution provided by 2-dimensional TLC for increasing spectral quality compared to a 1-dimensional separation are demonstrated.