Paint Lady Butterfly Facts for Kids

A Picture of a Painted Lady Butterfly
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Order: Lepidoptera
  • Family: Nymphalidae
  • Subfamily: Nymphalinae
  • Genus: Vanessa

15 Paint Lady Butterfly Facts for Kids

  1. The painted lady is a species of butterfly that is a member of the genus Vanessa.
  2. The binomial name for the painted lady butterfly is Vanessa cardui.
  3. Painted lady butterflies are also called cosmopolitan or thistle butterflies.
  4. All species of painted lady butterflies are orange, black and brown with white spots.
  5. There are other species of butterflies that are considered paint ladies, a few are American painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis), Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) and West Coast lady (Vanessa annabella).
  6. Painted lady butterflies can be found on five of the seven continents, except for South America and Antarctica.
  7. The painted lady butterfly has four stages in its lifecycle, and those states are egg, larva, pupa and adult.
  8. All species of painted lady butterflies go through a process called metamorphosis, which is when a painted lady caterpillar creates a chrysalis and emerges as an adult butterfly.
  9. The average wingspan of an adult painted lady butterfly is two inches.
  10. The average lifespan of an adult painted lady butterfly is around two weeks.
  11. An adult painted lady butterfly can fly up to 30 miles per hour, and that allows them to travel up to 100 niles in a day.
  12. The painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is one of the most widespread species of butterflies in the world.
  13. The American painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis) is native to North American.
  14. The Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) is native to Australia and New Zealand.
  15. The West Coast lady (Vanessa annabella) is native to the western United States and southwestern Canada.

Additional Resources for Paint Lady Butterfly Facts

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