Painted lady 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 most of the world. The group includes: The painted lady ("V. cardui") is a large butterfly (wing span ) identified by the black and white corners of its mainly deep orange, black-spotted wings. It has five white spots in the black forewing tips and while the orange areas may be pale here and there, there are no clean white dots in them. The hindwings carry four small submarginal eyespots on the dorsal
Australian painted lady painted lady lasts around 53 days in the summer. The females lay eggs in the centre of the leaf of food plants. The eggs are green and hatch in about three days. As a caterpillar, the Australian painted lady is only active at night, during which its main activity is feeding. During the day, it hides in a curled leaf or at the foot of a food plant. The pupa hangs vertically from the underside of the leaf of a food plant, and the duration of the pupal stage is about two weeks. The Australian painted lady typically uses the