Species Vanessa kershawi (McCoy, 1868)
Australian Painted Lady
- Cynthia kershawi, McCoy, F. 1868. The Australian representative of Cynthia cardui. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 1: 76 [76].
Type data:
Lectotype NMV ♀, Melbourne, VIC (stated as 'Melbourne and many other parts of Australia' in original description).
Paralectotype(s) NMV 1♀
Comment: McCoy in the original description implied that he had many specimens.Type locality references:
Couchman, L.E. 1956. A catalogue of the Tasmanian Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 90: 1-33 [18] (gave the type locality as Melbourne; the lectotype is labelled 'near Melbourne'). - Pyrameis cardui suffusa Olliff, A.S. 1888. On two instances of colour variation in butterflies. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2-n.s. 3(3): 1250-1252, 1 text-fig [1250].
Type data:
Holotype AM KL04412 ♀ (Olliff in the original description indicated that he had one specimen), Bombala, NSW (designated in original description)
Comment: Peters, J.V. 1971. A Catalogue of the Type Specimens of the Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) in the Australian Museum. Greenwich, NSW : Australian Entomological Press 36 pp. [23] (referred to a holotype and gave type information). - Pyrameis lucasii Miskin, W.H. 1889. Descriptions of hitherto undescribed Australian Lepidoptera (Rhopalocera). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 3(4): 1514-1520 [publication date: Anon. 1929. List showing dates of publication of parts of the Proceedings for each year. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. Index to vols 1–50 (1875–1925)] [1515].
Type data:
Holotype SAMA sex unknown (Miskin in the original description stated that the specimen was unique), Fernshaw, VIC (as Fernshawe in original description)
Comment: Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W. H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum (Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519–528 [521] (could not locate a specimen in the Miskin collection but as the Lucas collection went to the SAMA, the holotype should be there). - Cynthia cardui austral Meredith, L.A. 1891. Bush Friends in Tasmania, Native Flowers, Fruits and Insects, Drawn from Nature, with Free Descriptions and Illustrations in Verse. Last Series. London : Macmillan vi 83 pp. 12 pls. [pl. 6] [illustrated in pl. 6, named on the contents page (unnumbered)].
Type data:
Status unknown, whereabouts unknown sex unknown, Tasmania (indicated in title to original description)
Comment: Meredith in the original publication did not indicate the number of specimens illustrated; the description was clearly unintentional and probably no specimens were preserved.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Waterhouse, G.A. & Lyell, G. 1914. The Butterflies of Australia: a monograph of the Australian Rhopalocera introducing a complete scheme of structural classification, and giving descriptions and illustrations of all the butterflies found in Australia, including a number now recorded for the first time. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 239 pp. 38 pls + 3 unnumbered colour pls. [Date published 25 July 1914] [56]
- Edwards, E.D. 1996. Nymphalidae. pp. 243-248, 359-360 in Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM. [247]
Distribution
States
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Extralimital distribution—New Zealand.
IBRA
ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)
Other Regions
Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Macquarie Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater
Ecological Descriptors
Larva: herbivore (associated flora: Arctotheca calendula (L.) Levyns [ASTERACEAE] Cape Weed, Cape Dandelion; Chrysocephalum semipapposum (Labill.) Steetz [ASTERACEAE] Clustered Everlasting; Chrysocephalum apiculatum (Labill.) Steetz [ASTERACEAE] Common Everlasting; Bracteantha bracteata (Vent.) Anderb. & Haegi [ASTERACEAE] Golden Everlasting; Chrysocephalum sp. [ASTERACEAE] (aff. apiculatum); Helichrysum rupicola DC. [ASTERACEAE]; Coronidium scorpioides (Labill.) Paul G.Wilson [ASTERACEAE] (as Chrysocephalum scorpioides); Gnaphalium sp. [ASTERACEAE]; Lavandula officinalis Chaix [LAMIACEAE]; Ammobium alatum R.Br. [ASTERACEAE]; Rhodanthe chlorocephala (Turcz.) Paul G.Wilson [ASTERACEAE]; Artemisia sp. [ASTERACEAE]; Onopordium acanthium L. [ASTERACEAE]; Onopordium illyricum L. [ASTERACEAE]; Carduus sp. [ASTERACEAE]; Galinsoga parviflora Cav. [ASTERACEAE]).
Extra Ecological Information
Introduced plants include Arctotheca calendula, Artemisia sp., Onopordium acanthium, O. illyricum, Carduus sp., Galinsoga parviflora (Asteraceae), Lavendula officinalis (Lamiaceae).
General References
Alcock, J. & Gwynne, D. 1988. The mating system of Vanessa kershawi: males defend landmark territories as mate encounter sites. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 26(1–4): 116-124 [116]
Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xiv 682 pp. 49 pls. [397] (biology)
Couchman, L.E. 1956. A catalogue of the Tasmanian Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 90: 1-33 [17]
Field, W.D. 1971. Butterflies of the genus Vanessa and of the resurrected genera Bassaris and Cynthia (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 84: 1-105 [45]
James, D.G. 1987. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on the development of Vanessa kershawi McCoy and Junonia villida Godart (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 26: 289-292 [289]
Kirby, W.F. 1871. A Synonymic Catalogue of Diurnal Lepidoptera. London : John van Voorst viii 690 pp. [186] (incorrect subsequent spelling as Cynthia kershawii McCoy, 1868)
Smithers, C.N. 1969. A note on migrations of Vanessa kershawi (McCoy) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Australia. The Australian Zoologist 15(2): 188-194 [188] (included map)
Van Son, G. 1966. The nomenclatural status of Vanessa kershawi (McCoy) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of Queensland 5: 66 [66]
Waterhouse, G.A. 1932. What Butterfly is That? A Guide to the Butterflies of Australia. Illustrated by Neville Cayley. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 291 pp. 34 pls. [Date published 15/Dec/1932] [90] (as Pyrameis cardui kershawi (McCoy, 1868), biology)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07-Mar-2024 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Feb-2023 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 22-Dec-2023 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby (ANU) |
| 13-May-2022 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 26-Feb-2021 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Jun-2020 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Michael Braby |
| 04-Jun-2020 | NYMPHALIDAE Rafinesque, 1815 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 06-Sep-2017 | PAPILIONOIDEA | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 05-Mar-2013 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | ||
| 30-Mar-2012 | 07-Mar-2024 | MODIFIED | ||
| 05-Apr-2011 | MOVED |