Painted lady as in corresponding "V. virginiensis". The Australian painted lady ("V. kershawi") is quite similar to "V. cardui". Its four ventral eyespots are less clearly defined, and it always sports at least three (often four) blue pupil spots on its dorsal hindwing. Caterpillars are found mainly on "Ammobium alatum". The lifespan of a painted lady butterfly is two to four weeks. The species undergoes complete metamorphosis which has recently been investigated using microtomography. Painted lady The Cynthia group of colourful butterflies, commonly called painted ladies, comprises a subgenus of the genus "Vanessa" in the family Nymphalidae. They are well known throughout
Painted lady and ventral sides. Those on the dorsal side are black, but in the summer morph sometimes small blue pupils are present. The American painted lady ("V. virginiensis") is most easily distinguishable by its two large hindwing eyespots on the ventral side. "V. virginiensis" also features a white dot within the subapical field of the forewings set in pink on the ventral side, and often as a smaller clean white dot in the orange of the dorsal side too. A less reliable indicator is the row of eyespots on the dorsal submarginal hindwing; "V. virginiensis" often has two larger outer spots