Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758)
(Painted Lady)

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesVanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
GenusVanessa (red admirals and painted ladies)
TribeNymphalini (nymphalid butterflies)
SubfamilyNYMPHALINAE (nymphalid butterflies)
FamilyNYMPHALIDAE (brown, fritillary and vanessid butterflies)
SuperfamilyPAPILIONOIDEA (butterflies)
SuborderGLOSSATA (a suborder of moths)
OrderLEPIDOPTERA (butterflies and moths)
Division Endopterygota (bees, beetles, flies, moths and other insects with wings developing internally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
Records of Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady) :
1: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
22 Apr 2011 OSGR: SD77 54° 10’ N, 2° 20’ W Vice County: Mid-west Yorks (VC 64) England
Image 1: Dorsal view - wings apart
2: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
23 Jun 2005 OSGR: SU06 51° 20’ N, 1° 50’ W Vice County: North Wilts (VC 7) England
Larva in web on Spear Thistle capitulum
Image 1: Web - close-up - in situImage 2: Web - in situImage 3: Larva - enlargedImage 4: Larva - enlarged (2)Image 5: Larva - enlarged (3)Image 6: Larva - enlarged (4)Image 7: Larva - enlarged (5)Image 8: Larva - enlarged (6)Image 9: Larva - enlarged (7)Image 10: Larva - enlarged (8)Image 11: Larva - enlarged (9)Image 12: Larva in web - enlargedImage 13: Larva in web - enlarged (2)Image 14: Larva - rebuilding web - enlargedImage 15: Larva - rebuilding web - enlarged (2)Image 16: Larva - rebuilding web - enlarged (3)
3: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
17 Aug 2003 OSGR: SY59 50° 50’ N, 2° 40’ W Vice County: Dorset (VC 9) England
Feeding at Greater Knapweed flowers
Image 1: Top viewImage 2: Top view (2)
4: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
2 Aug 2003 OSGR: SU56 51° 20’ N, 1° 10’ W Vice County: Berks (VC 22) England
at Buddleia flowers
Image 1: On flowers
5: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
2 Aug 2003 OSGR: SU56 51° 20’ N, 1° 10’ W Vice County: Berks (VC 22) England
at Purple Loosestrife flowers
Image 1: On flowersImage 2: Top viewImage 3: Top view (2)Image 4: Top view (3)Image 5: Top view (4)Image 6: Top view (5)Image 7: Top view (6)Image 8: Top view (7)Image 9: Top view (8)Image 10: Top view (9)Image 11: Top view (10)Image 12: Top view (11)Image 13: Top view (12)Image 14: UndersideImage 15: Underside (2)
6: Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
7 Sep 1970 OSGR: TQ20 50° 50’ N, 0° 10’ W Vice County: East Sussex (VC 14) England
Image 1: Top surface - wings open

Identification Works

AuthorYearTitleSource
Brereton, T., Roy, D., & Greatorex-Davies, N. 2006 Thirty Years and Counting - the contribution to conservation and ecology of butterfly-monitoring in the UK British Wildlife Vol 17, No. 3: 162-170.

Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 1 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
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