Completed
Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumArthropoda (Arthropods)
- ClassInsecta (Insects)
- OrderLepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- FamilyNymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
- GenusVanessa (Ladies and Related Admirals)
- SpeciesVanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
369 Verified sightings at Austin
3,836 In all 66 parks From 2019 to 2026
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted
About the Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan butterfly. Male and female. Upperside. Ground-colour reddish-ochreous, basal areas olivescent-ochreous-brown; cilia black, alternated with white, Forewing with an outwardly-oblique black irregular-shaped broken band crossing from middle of the cell to the disc above the submedian vein; the apical area from end of cell and the exterior border also black; before the apex is a short white outwardly-oblique streak and a curved row of four round spots, the second and third being small; a marginal pale lunular line with its upper portion most defined and whitish. Hind-wing with a blackish patch from the costal vein across end of cell, a partly confluent recurved discal band, a submarginal row of lunules, and then a marginal row of somewhat scutiform spots; between the discal band and submarginal lunules is a row of five round black spots, which in some examples show a pale and dark outer ring. Underside. Forewing brighter reddish-ochreous, the apical area and outer margin much paler, the apex being olivescent ochreous-brown... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Painted Lady in Austin
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 2 | Dammam | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | |
| 3 | Amman | 🇯🇴 Jordan | |
| 4 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 5 | Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 7 | Athens | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 8 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 9 | Casablanca | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 10 | Ankara | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
Closest Relatives at Austin
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Painted Lady in Austin?
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Lady sighting in Austin on a given day, based on 369 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 74th most-seen of the 1624 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Painted Lady in Austin?
November and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Lady in Austin on a given day, against under 5% in May to July, the lowest months.
What time of day is best to see a Painted Lady?
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Painted Lady sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Is Austin the best place to see a Painted Lady?
61st of 127
Of the 127 cities where we can rate Painted Lady sightings, Austin ranks 61st at about 10%. The best odds are in Kuwait City (Kuwait, about 70%), Dammam (Saudi Arabia, about 50%) and Amman (Jordan, about 40%).
Which relatives of the Painted Lady live in Austin?
Same genus: Vanessa
The closest relatives of the Painted Lady that you can see in Austin (genus Vanessa, Ladies and Related Admirals) are Red Admiral (about 30%) and American Lady (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
Where does the Painted Lady sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Painted Lady is recorded against all the insects logged in Austin (369 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
