The Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) butterfly is mostly confined to Australia, although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, including New Zealand. Debate surrounds the taxonomy of this species. Some believe that the Australian painted lady should be a subspecies to the painted lady due to the similarity in lifestyle and behaviour. Furthermore, the painted lady is found around the globe, but Australia is the only location in which it varies enough to be considered a separate species. However, due to the distinct genitalia of the males, and variation in coloration, many others consider the Australian painted lady to be a separate species. During spring, adult butterflies migrate south in large numbers from northern states of Queensland and New South Wales. To find mates, male Australian painted ladies exhibit territorial behaviour, which involves a male perching on vegetation in a sunny spot on a hilltop, waiting for females to fly by. Despite urbanization and invasive plants altering its habitat, populations of Australian painted ladies have not been significantly impacted by these changes. The Australian painted lady's coloration allows it to blend in effectively with the ground. Males and females look almost identical. The ovum is translucent green in colour and barrel-shaped with 13-15 vertical ribs. Right before hatching, the black head and grey tinted body appear through the shell. The larva is grey with pale yellow stripes along each side of its body, yellow dots, and has rows of branched spines covering its body. Its head is typically brown or black, and the caterpillar grows to about 3 cm. The pupa is brown with darker markings, and four pairs of metallic silver or gold dots. The lifecycle of the Australian painted lady lasts around 53 days in the summer. The females lay eggs in the centre of the leaf of food plants. The eggs are green and hatch in about three days. As a caterpillar, the Australian painted lady is only active at night, during which its main activity is feeding. During the day, it hides in a curled leaf or at the foot of a food plant. The pupa hangs vertically from the underside of the leaf of a food plant, and the duration of the pupal stage is about two weeks. The Australian painted lady typically uses the native Australian everlastings and other daisies as a host and food plant. However, it also feeds on several introduced species, including capeweed (Arctotheca calendula), Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium), and lavender (Lavendula officinalis). The adults feed on the nectar of flowers. Observations of the Australian painted lady migration date back to the 1960s. In 1963, a large migration took place in a southeasterly direction from late August to late September. It was characterized by the species becoming suddenly common in certain areas where the it had previously been sparse. That year was noted to have been unusually wet in Australia. This could be a trait shared with V. cardui, which migrates in Europe during the wet season. The Australian painted lady migrates south in the spring and summer, and north in the autumn and winter. Migrating butterflies often have smaller and lighter body sizes that allow them to fly longer distances. Additionally, these butterflies tend to have larger wings-to-body ratios. Temperatures and day length have been found to influence development. When larvae were exposed to short days and cool temperatures (20°C), similar to conditions found in the spring, larval development was accelerated. This produced small adults with low body weights, ideal for migration. A similar phenomenon occurred when the larvae were exposed to longer days at warm temperatures (30°C), conditions similar to those in the late summer. Seasonal changes could trigger the development of spring and fall body forms that are ideal for the migration patterns described above.
The meadow argus (Junonia villida) is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, commonly found in Australia. It is also known as Albin's Hampstead eye in the United Kingdom, where it has occurred only as an accidental import. The meadow argus has two brownish wings, each covered with two distinctive black and blue eyespots as well as white and orange marks that appear on the edge of the wings. The eyespots are a defense mechanism that are not only used to frighten predators away, but also to confuse the predators into thinking that the eyespots are the target, allowing the butterfly to escape with only a small part of the wing being lost. The underside of the wings are mainly unmarked, except the lower part of the fore wing has similar markings as the upper side. The wingspan measures 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in males and 4.3 centimetres (1.7) in females. As the butterfly rests, it can sit in four different positions depending on the current situation. These positions include: • If the sun is shining, the butterfly will open and relax its wings • If danger approaches while in the sunlight the butterfly will open its wings further revealing eyespots on its hindwings • If the sun is not shining the butterfly will close its wings • If danger approaches while there is no sunlight the butterfly will raise its frontwings revealing hidden eyespots The meadow argus can be found mainly on the Australian mainland, as well as in Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Tuvalu, Samoa and Cook Islands. They reside in urban areas, forests, woodlands, and grasslands, though they are uncommon during the winter months. Every year during October or November, the butterflies migrate from southern Australia to warmer areas in the north. Meadow argus eggs are laid on a leaf of the food plant, shaped with sturdy vertical and horizontal ribs. The eggs usually hatch within 7 to 10 days. Meadow argus larvae are black with short thin spines. Meadow argus caterpillars feed on various garden plants, both native and introduced. This includes Plantago, Scrophulariaceae, Convolvulaceae, Compositae, Verbenaceae, Porulacaceae, and Gentianaceae. This stage lasts from 4 to 5 weeks. Meadow argus pupae have various colours, though usually they are black dotted with white and reddish yellow. This stage lasts from 2 to 3 weeks.
