Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Butterfly Garden habitat
Photo: Charles J. Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui
Young Explorer Notes
Three quick things to know about the Painted Lady.
- Superpower
The most widely distributed butterfly on Earth — found on every continent except Antarctica and South America's deep …
- Home
A rainbow of flowers where butterflies dance.
- How to help
Doing great in the wild!
Scientists say this species is safe for now. We still learn about them to keep it that way.
Fun facts for everyone
- The most widely distributed butterfly on Earth — found on every continent except Antarctica and South America's deep south.
- A multi-generation migration links sub-Saharan Africa to the Arctic Circle, a round trip of up to 14,000 km — longer than the monarch's.
- In Britain, painted ladies appear in massive irruption years roughly once a decade, sometimes numbering in the tens of millions.
- Caterpillars are generalists, feeding on more than 100 host plants including thistles, mallows, and even soybeans — which is why classroom butterfly-rearing kits almost always feature this species.
- Adult flight is fast and direct — radar studies tracked individuals crossing the Sahara at altitudes above 500 metres on tailwinds.
From the master plan
The Painted Lady is the resilience story of the Butterfly Garden — the species used in the on-site classroom for school programs, and the one guests encounter being released from the chrysalis cabinet on most days. Its ubiquity is exactly the point: pollinator wins are global wins.
IUCN Red List recognises Vanessa cardui as widespread and not of conservation concern; we record it as LC.
Find them in
Butterfly Garden
A delicate, colorful sanctuary for pollinators, flowers, and gentle discovery
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