Australian Painted Lady

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Australian Painted Lady - Glenn Rudolph/DEPI

Vanessa kershawi

Pale brown underwings and orange and brown upper wings. Tiny blue eyespots on hind wings. Larvae are brown and spikey with a pale yellow stripe along each side. A long proboscis is used to extract nectar from flowers. The adult wingspan is up to 5 cm.

Details
Type
Invertebrate
Group
Animals
Insect - Butterfly
Other Common Names
Blue-spotted Painted Lady
Biology

Females lay single green eggs on food plant leaf. The whole lifecycle is approximately 53 days.
Distinctive Markings

The forewing has four white dots near the apex and a white bar running inward from the edge.
Taxonomy
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Lepidoptera
Family
Nymphalidae
Genus
Vanessa
Species
kershawi
Occurs from Christmas Island through to New Zealand including New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

This species undergoes mass migration from northern regions on the east coast towards the south-west.

Interesting Facts
Diet

Herbivore. Native Everlasting daisies, other daisy species, grasses and introduced Capeweed, Scotch Thistle and Lavender.
Habitat

Urban areas.
Native Status
Native to Australia