📸 PhotoPhoto: Sayan Sanyal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Painted lady
Vanessa cardui (Painted lady · ヒメアカタテハ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A wingspan of 53 mm is slightly longer than two Korean 100-won coins (diameter 24 mm) laid side by side (Comparison).
- 💡 The National List of Species of Korea notes that many individuals can be seen in cosmos flower beds in autumn and also in urban parks.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The painted lady is a cosmopolitan butterfly distributed in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, famous for its annual long-distance migrations. The IUCN assessed it as Least Concern (LC) in 2020.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its wingspan is 43–53 mm, with black markings developed on an orange ground and many white spots at the forewing tips. Unlike the Indian red admiral, the central part of the upper hindwing is orange, and the underside of the hindwing has a complex greenish yellowish-brown pattern.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It produces multiple generations per year, appears from April to November, and overwinters as an adult. It visits various flowers but does not gather at tree sap. According to ADW, it migrates up to about 15,000 km across multiple generations and feeds on more than 100 plant species.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
The National List of Species of Korea states that it is common nationwide, can be seen everywhere in urban parks and waterside areas, and appears in large numbers on cosmos flower beds in autumn.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/174379/161326679
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 9385D
- • iucnredlist.org — 161326679
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000035860 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000035860
- • wikidata.org — Q158603
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Close wing position of Vanessa cardui, Linnaeus, 1758 –
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Vanessa cardui
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Gareth Monger · CC BY 3.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.