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
Brachycaudus cardui have pinkish blotches on a dark green background. "B. cardui" has a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. The primary host of "B. cardui" is plum, cherry, apricot, peach or damson, but during the summer months it moves to a secondary host. This is often a thistle in the genera "Carduus" or "Cirsium" where it is commonly seen on the stems and flowerheads. Alternatively, other plants in the aster family or plants in the borage family (Boraginaceae) may be used as secondary hosts. Winged individuals fly back to the primary hosts in the autumn. Colonies of