Painted lady

Vanessa cardui · The painted lady is a butterfly found on every continent except Antarctica, making it the most widespread butterfly species.

Also called Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan butterfly, Painted lady butterfly.

Painted lady
Photo: Anitava Roy, CC BY-SA 4.0
Painted lady
Photo: Böhringer Friedrich, CC BY-SA 2.5
Painted lady
Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyNymphalidae
GenusVanessa
SpeciesVanessa cardui

Where it lives

Open fields and gardens on every continent except Antarctica and South America.

Fun facts

  • Pollen on the butterflies found in French Guiana matched West African shrubs, helping scientists work out where they came from.
  • A round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle covers 14,500 km and is completed over up to six generations of butterflies.
  • In spring 2019, heavy rain led to a migration through Israel estimated at a billion butterflies.
  • Autumn migrations happen high up in the sky, which is why people rarely see them.

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The Painted lady was the creature in a regional daily on October 31, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).