EASY GARDEN BUTTERFLIES
The Painted LadyVanessa cardui
The Painted Lady is one of the Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies), subfamily Nymphalinae (Admirals, Pansies etc.).
Its common name is one of the oldest, after the make-up commonly worn by women in the 17th century. Its wing colours resembled the vivid flesh tones used at that time.
Male and female Painted Ladies look alike. They are fast-flying, long-lived butterflies that occur in open country where they frequent hilltops and bright sunny places. You can see them almost everywhere in South Africa, even in arid places like the Desert and Karoo.
Distribution
The Painted Lady is one of the world’s most widespread butterflies. It’s found nearly all over Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia. Small, transient populations exist in South America and Australia. It’s one of the best-known migratory butterflies, travelling further than the well-known American Monarch over as many as ten generations and . Unlike the Pioneer Caper Whites of Africa and India they tend to move in a particular direction. Vast numbers can be seen flying from south to north in the southern African summer. In North Africa the same thing happens in late spring and their offspring move in the opposite direction in autumn. Where ours end up is a bit of a mystery…
Egg
Painted Lady egg
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The female Painted Lady lays her tiny, pale green, barrel-shaped eggs on leaves of the host plant. Laid singly, they are about 0.9mm diameter by 1.4mm high. They are slightly pointed at the top, flattened at the bottom, and have about 20 longitudinal ribs with fine cross-ribs. The egg stage lasts roughly a week but can take longer in cold conditions.
Young Caterpillar
Painted Lady
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Young Painted Lady caterpillars are spin a silken web, sewing leaves together to form a shelter to hide inside. They grow from 1.5mm to 10mm over about two weeks and undergoing two moults.
Fully-grown larva
Painted Lady
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Fully-grown Painted Lady caterpillars (larvae) are extremely variable in colour. This one is black and yellow with pink spines but they can be anything from jet black to sandy brown or yellow with black spines. Although spiny they don’t sting or make you itch. It takes from three to five weeks to become fully grown (28-34mm) over four moults.
Pupa/Chrysalis
Painted Lady pupa
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The pupa is also variable in colour, from sandy to black, but always has points and edges picked out in gold. The ancient Greeks who coined the word ‘chrysalis’ must have noticed this because the Greek word for gold is ‘Chrysos’. Like all Nymphalidae pupae it is attached to its substrate by its tail. The pupa is 20-25mm long and the adult usually emerges after 2-3 weeks.
Host plants
Their caterpillars feed on many different plants in the Daisy family (Asteraceae) and Mallows (Malvaceae) as well as others. The cosmopolitan weed Spear thistle Cirsium vulgare is probably their favourite. It’s an invasive species here but you don’t need to plant that to give them a home. A local thistle, Berkheya bipinnatifida, is a major host plant. They are very fond of Gazania daisies as well as Namaqua Gousblomme (Arctotis) and other karoo daisies. Another popular host plant is Cheeseweed Malva parviflora, a popular species of Wild Spinach.
Spear (Scottish) Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Forest Thistle
Berkheya bipinnatifida
Trailing gazania
Gazania rigens
Cheeseweed
Malva parviflora
How to attract them
Gardeners can promote the presence of this butterfly by cultivating its preferred host plants and creating a sunny, sheltered environment with an abundance of nectar-rich flowers.
Provided you have plenty of nectar plants in your garden, you’re very likely to see them. They love to sit drinking nectar from garden flowers and bask in the sun slowly opening and closing their wings.