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
Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis to name their unborn child "Nessie" after the local Scottish creature the Loch Ness Monster. Though humored, Julia did not agree but settled on Vanessa as a close substitute. Julia remained married to David until his death 22 years into their marriage when Vanessa was five years old. He died while exploring ruins in Egypt. Deciding to make a fresh start Julia took Vanessa to live in the U.S. where she eventually became the Dean for the Department of History and Geology at Harvard University. They currently live in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts. While at Harvard Julia