Vanessa kershawi (Australian Painted Lady)
05/04/2010
Mount Ainslie, ACT
05/04/2010
Mount Majura, ACT
04/12/2016
Clarence
04/12/2016
Clarence
31/11/2021
Ingleburn
15/04/2023
Mount Annan
15/04/2023
Mount Annan
15/04/2023
Mount Annan
19/01/2013
Thredbo
21/08/2016
Northmead
02/04/2010
Knapsack Park
02/04/2010
Knapsack Park
05/04/2010
Mount Ainslie, ACT
27/10/2008
Lesmurdie, WA
27/10/2008
Lesmurdie, WA
11/10/2008
Lawson
06/10/2008
Lawson
06/10/2008
Lawson
28/03/2004
Ingleburn
28/03/2004
Ingleburn
28/03/2004
Ingleburn
28/03/2004
Ingleburn
02/10/2004
Ingleburn
02/10/2004
Ingleburn
Other Common names
Blue-spotted Painted Lady
Notes
This species seems to be all over the place. Most of the time I don’t see them in large numbers, though from time to time they can be extremely abundant and can be seen migrating en masse. The butterfly is very similar to Vanessa cardui, with which I was familiar in my youth when I collected butterflies in England. The most obvious difference is the fact that the spots on the upperside of the hind wing have blue centres in kershawi, I think it is generally smaller than cardui as well.
In September 2004 these butterflies were very common, both in urban areas like North Sydney and in bushland like the Ingleburn Reserve. I found them to be much harder to approach than those that had been flying the previous autumn, so although there were plenty of them to see I didn’t have much luck getting photos of them.
Sightings
It would probably be easier to list the places where I haven’t seen them…
Links
- The Complete Field Guide to Australian Butterflies (2nd edition) by Michael F. Braby
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Bob’s Butterflies
- South Australian Butterflies & Moths
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Butterflies of Dorrigo
- Australian Nature Photography
- Brisbane Insects
- Tobias Westmeier’s website
- Canberra Nature Map
- Wikipedia
- iNaturalist
- Australian Museum
- Learn About Butterflies