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
West Coast lady West Coast lady The West Coast lady ("Vanessa annabella") is one of three North American species of brush-footed butterflies known colloquially as the "painted ladies". "V. annabella" occurs throughout much of the western US and southwestern Canada. The other two species are the cosmopolitan "Vanessa cardui" (painted lady) and the eastern "Vanessa virginiensis" (American painted lady). This species has also been considered a subspecies of the South American, "Vanessa carye", and is frequently misspelled as "anabella". Aside from general differences in distribution, "V. annabella" can be distinguished from the other two painted ladies of North America as follows: Most conspicuously,