Painted Lady Butterfly
By: Ashlyn Muirhead
Scientific Name
Venessa cardui
Normal Habitat: Biome type
Painted Ladies live in many habitats across the world such as fields, meadows, suburban, agricultural, swamp, bog, marsh, tundra, taiga, desert, chaparral, forest, rainforest, scrub forest, and mountain ranges. They are found on every continent in the world except Antarctica and Australia.
Body Shape
They grow up to 6.4 cm, with a brown and fuzzy body. Painted Ladies have many spots such as white, orange-brown, and black spots.
Feeding Habits
Painted Ladies are herbivores. They eat many plants such as aster, cosmos, blazing star, iron weed, joe-pye, red clover, button bash, privet, milkweeds, and thistles.
Life Cycle
An immature version of a Painted Lady is a caterpillar. The caterpillar is black to purple with yellow-green stripes and long spikes. The life cycle is egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and then an adult butterfly.