Painted Lady

• On migration it can fly as much as 160 km in a single day, at speeds close to 48 km/h.
• The caterpillar feeds on more than 100 host plants, mainly thistles and mallows.
• It is one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world, present on almost every continent except Antarctica and South America.
• It makes the longest migration known in a butterfly. Its annual circuit between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe exceeds 12,000 km there and back, more than double the monarch's, and is completed over some six successive generations: no individual butterfly makes the whole journey.
• In 2024 something long suspected was proven: a group crossed the Atlantic. Isotope and pollen analysis of specimens that turned up in French Guiana confirmed they had set out from western Europe or Africa and flown for between 5 and 8 days over open sea, some 4,200 km non-stop.
• It is probably the most widely distributed butterfly in the world: it is found on every continent except South America and Antarctica.
• Its irruption years are spectacular: in spring, waves of thousands of individuals can be seen crossing the Iberian Peninsula northwards, always in the same direction.
• It flies at about 25-30 km/h and rides high-altitude winds, hundreds of metres above the ground, which explains why the migration goes unnoticed most of the time.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton

Habitat & environment

Practically any open, sunny habitat on almost every continent except Antarctica and South America; a long-range migrant

Birth weight

A small oval pale green egg, laid singly

Size at birth

A tiny pale green egg

Sexual maturity

The adult emerges already sexually mature after metamorphosis

Gestation / incubation

3-5 days of egg development; 12-18 days as a caterpillar; 7-10 days as a chrysalis

Litter / clutch size

Over 1,000 eggs in a lifetime (~500 usually given)

Sources consulted: NHPBS NatureWorks; bioRxiv (migration reproduction study); Butterfly Identification; Ward's World; Carolina Biological Supply; Butterfly Bee Garden; PMC (trans-Saharan migration study)