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By Marie S. Harris
Geographic Range
The Painted Lady is found everywhere in the world except South America, the Arctic, and Australia.
Biogeographic Regions:
nearctic 
(native ); palearctic (native ); oriental (native ); ethiopian (native ); neotropical (native ); australian (native ); oceanic islands (native ).
Habitat
The Painted Lady is found almost anywhere, but they tend to inhabit brightly lighted and open environments. They prefer clover fields, flowery meadows and hilly country. Marshes, dunes, and thorn scrubs also attract the Painted Lady.
These animals are found in the following types of habitat:
temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial .
Terrestrial Biomes:
tundra ; taiga ; desert or dune ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains .
Other:
suburban ; agricultural .
Physical Description
The Painted Lady has a pointed forewing which bears a distinct white bar. The hindwing has a submarginal row of 5 tiny black dots. The upperside of the freshly emerged butterfly is orange with rose-like overtones. The underside is a mottled gray, brown, and black.
Some key physical features:
ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry .
Sexual dimorphism: sexes alike.
Development
Females lay eggs on the plants their babies will eat. The caterpillars that hatch out feed continuously and molt several times. After a few weeks they transform into a pupa, go through a complete metamorphosis, and emerge as an adult butterfly. The timing of this depends on the climate, the warmer it is the faster they grow.
Special features of growth:
metamorphosis .
Reproduction
All year in the tropics, spring and summer in cooler climates.
A green, barrel-shaped egg is laid singly on a host plant. The color of the larva varies from chartreuse with black marbling to a purple with a yellow hue.
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; sexual ; fertilization (internal ); oviparous .
Lifespan/Longevity
Lifespan depends on the climate, but is probably never more than one winter. Only adults survive through winter, and even then only in mild climates.
Behavior
The Painted Lady is well known for its migratory behavior. It is continuously brooded and does not disperse. Adult males will perch in the late afternoon to establish and defend a territory. However, a male does not selectively perch on species of plants that serve as larval hosts. Almost always males win exclusive use of their defended areas.
Food Habits
The Painted lady consumes more than 100 different plants, some include thistles, Burdock, and Groundsel. The Larval foodplants are thistles and members of the families Asteraceae and Malvaceae.
Primary Diet:
herbivore .
Predation
- wasps (Hymenoptera)
- spiders (Araneae)
- ants (Formicidae)
- birds (Aves)
Adult painted ladies' main defenses are flight and camouflage. The caterpillars hide in small silk nests on top of leaves, and may have chemical defenses, but this is uncertain.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List: [link]:
Not Evaluated.
US Federal List: [link]:
No special status.
CITES: [link]:
No special status.
State of Michigan List: [link]:
No special status.
These are such common butterflies that they need no special conservation efforts.
Other Comments
The Painted Lady is also known as the Thistle Butterfly because of its strong liking for thistles, and the Cosmopolitan for its worldwide distribution.
Contributors
Marie S. Harris (author), University of Michigan.
