Vanessa cardui

Vanessa cardui
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Vanessa
Subgenus:	Cynthia
Species:	V. cardui
Binomial name
Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Papilio cardui Linnaeus, 1758

Vanessa cardui is a well-known colourful butterfly, known as the Painted Lady, or in North America as the Cosmopolitan. This butterfly has a strange pattern of flying in a sort of screw shape.

Distribution

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 (Vanessa kershawi, sometimes considered a subspecies) ranges over half the continent. Other closely related species are the American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis), and the West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella).

Migration

Vanessa cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. For example, it migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain in May and June, but having produced offspring they then die in the Autumn.

Relationship with humans

Vanessa cardui butterflies are raised in many pre-school classrooms to demonstrate the life cycle of a butterfly. Naturally, this is one reason they are so popular amongst children. They are also often found in science fair projects.

Life cycle

File:Vanessa cardui loq.jpg

Life cycle

The egg takes 3 to 5 days to hatch. The eggs are tiny, as tiny as a sugar crystal. They are green and can be observed best with a magnifying glass. The caterpillar takes 7–11 days to turn into a chrysalis. At this stage the caterpillar eats a great deal of mallow and other types of plants. Before entering its chrysalis, the caterpillar will moult several times because of how quickly it grows in such a short period of time. The moult appears as a black speck, what looks like dirt, near the caterpillar. Many people believe this to be the excretion of the caterpillar, but it is truly the moult (the skin the caterpillar has grown out of). It takes 7–11 days for the chrysalis to turn into a butterfly. The painted lady butterfly travels around 1000 miles in its life. Its wing span is 2 inches. The painted lady caterpillar is black with spiked skin.

Host plants

The caterpillars feed on a wide variety of host plants of the families Asteraceae, especially Carduus crispus (as implied by the species name cardui – Latin for "of thistles"). Also, Boraginaceae, Malvaceae (especially hollyhocks and dwarf mallow Malva neglecta), and a number of Fabaceae are eaten. The adults drink nectar from a variety of wildflowers and cultivars, more commonly the favored thistle, butterfly bush (Buddleja), asters, Tickseed sunflowers (Bidens) and zinnias.

See also

• Vanessa atalanta

References

• Opler, P. A. and A. B. Wright. 1999. Peterson field guide to western butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 544 pp. ISBN 0-395-79152-9

External links

• Sri Lanka Wild Life Information Database

• Painted Lady Butterfly Vanessa cardui : large format reference quality photographs