Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui
The Painted Lady is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world, capable of multi-generational migrations spanning thousands of miles across the Mediterranean and Sahara.
- Scientific name
- Vanessa cardui
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Nymphalidae › Vanessa
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Meadows, grasslands, old fields, deserts, and suburban gardens.
- Diet
- Adults drink nectar from thistles, asters, and clover; caterpillars feed primarily on thistles, mallows, and hollyhocks.
- Range
- North America, Europe, Asia, Africa
- Size
- Wingspan of 5 to 9 cm (2 to 3.5 inches)
- Lifespan
- 2 to 4 weeks as an adult
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Widespread pesticide use, habitat loss due to intensive agriculture, and climate change disrupting migration cues.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. You can safely observe this butterfly from any distance. Avoid touching their wings, as contact can rub off the microscopic scales vital for their flight. If one lands on you, stay still and enjoy the gentle encounter.
Vanessa cardui is a well-known colorful butterfly, known as the painted lady , or in North America as the cosmopolitan . This butterfly has a strange habit of flying in a sort of screw shape.
Photo: Joan C. Hinojosa, CC0, via iNaturalist
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