The Painted Lady is found all over the world. and great swarms have been recorded crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe, year after year. LIke the Monarch butterfly, it migrates, moving to warmer climates for the winter months. Sometimes Painted Ladies migrate up to 6000 kilometres. Powerful five-centimeter wings carry Painted Lady butterflies over great stretches of open water and mountains. The top sides of the Painted Lady's wings are orange-brown, with darker wing bases, and black patches and white bars on the leading edges. The underneath sides are a black, brown, and gray pattern, with small 'eyespots'. The Painted Lady has a life cycle, or metamorphosis, which takes about 23 days to complete: The Painted Lady lays it eggs on plants. The eggs are green and oval-shaped, and about about 1 mm long. They hatch into larvae, or caterpillars. The larva or caterpillar is a big eater! It stays near the plant where it was hatched, eating mostly leaves. Its life as a caterpillar lasts about 4 weeks. As the caterpillar grows, it gets too large for its skin; the skin splits up the back and the caterpillar re-emerges, a little bigger. The last time it sheds its skin, the caterpillar keeps only its front three pairs of legs. Then it crawls to a safe place and hangs upside down from a branch or leaf. It spins thread and attaches its tail to its resting place. After about a day the skin splits down the back; what appears is the chrysalis, which hardens and becomes a golden color. This casing protects the larva inside for about 7 to 10 days, as it turns into a butterfly! When the chrysalis opens up, it releases the butterfly. The wings unfold and harden as blood is pumped into them. Veins on the wings give them strength. Painted ladies will live and mate after being released. Females are capable of producing hundreds of eggs. Their favourite plants are thistles and hollyhocks, but they'll eat other leaves. Note for teachers: The butterfly larvae were ordered from the Boreal scientific supply company in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and came with larva containers, food, and a butterfly box, as well as some small tools. We packed the individual larva containers with nutrient for the larvae. Then we put them in a bright area at room temperature, (not in direct sunlight). After about a week, the larvae will crawl to the top of the container and hang. Each larva is preparing to form a chrysalis, and should not be disturbed for 1 or 2 days. After the chrysalids have developed, the lid of each container, with the insect attached, is placed in a butterfly box, taped to the lid. (A covered terrarium or aquarium would work too). Adult butterflies should emerge a week or so later. To feed the butterflies, prepare a 5% solution of sugar or honey in water. Pour about half an ounce of this solution into a small bottle. Roll up a small piece of paper towel and push it into the bottle until it extends about 1 centimeter into the solution. A centimetre or so of the towel should stick out from the bottle. The towel forms a wick on which the butterflies can feed. Also place leaves and stems in the butterfly cage. (Try to get hollyhock ... their favourite food). After they've been out for about a week, the female butterflies should begin to deposit eggs on the plants. The eggs are small, pale green ovals. They should begin to hatch after 3 to 5 days. Back to Page 1 Resources HTML, graphics & design by Bill Willis 2023