Vanessa cardui Vanessa cardui Vanessa cardui is a well-known colorful butterfly, known as the painted lady, or in North America as the cosmopolitan. "V. cardui" is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In Australia, "V. cardui" has a limited range around Bunbury, Fremantle, and Rottnest Island. However, its close relative, the Australian painted lady ("V. kershawi", sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American painted lady ("V. virginiensis") and the West Coast lady ("V. annabella"). "V. cardui" occurs in any temperate zone, including
American painted lady has none. "V. virginiensis" also uniquely features a white dot within the forewing subapical field, set in pink on the underside and usually also in the dorsal side's orange field. The largest spot in the black forewing tips is white in "V. cardui", pale orange in this species, and orange in the West Coast species. The latter also has a purer orange background color of the dorsal side, as opposed to the darker and (especially in "V. virginiensis") redder hue of the other two. A less reliable indicator is the row of black eyespots on the dorsal submarginal hindwing. In