Nymphalidae Nymphalinae
Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758)
Painted Lady

The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is a well-known colourful butterfly, known in North America as the Cosmopolite.

The Painted Lady 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 offspring produced there die in the Autumn.