Painted Lady Butterfly

butterfly · world traveler · colorful wings

Found everywhere. The painted lady butterfly lives on almost every continent except Antarctica and is the most widespread butterfly species in the entire world. You can find it in deserts, meadows, gardens, and grasslands.

Colorful name. It's called the painted lady because of its beautiful patchwork wings with orange, black, white, and yellow markings that look like they were carefully painted on.

Amazing travelers. Painted ladies are super migratory butterflies, meaning they travel incredibly long distances to find food and warmer weather, sometimes flying thousands of miles in a single season.

Picky eaters. These butterflies lay their eggs on many different plants, with over 300 plant species being food for their caterpillars, making them very adaptable to different environments.

Quick lifecycle. From egg to adult butterfly takes only about 30 days, so painted ladies can have multiple generations in a single year.