Subject: Vanessa or Cynthia cardui, The Painted Lady

From: Patrick Roper <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 14:02:28 +0100

The generic name for Painted Ladies normally in use in Britain is currently
Cynthia, though we do not always conform with taxonomic practice in Europe
or elsewhere.  In one of our most up to date and authoritative books "The
Butterflies and Moths of Great Britain and Ireland" (1989) the authors
(Bretherton and Emmet for this species) say that the genus Cynthia "is very
closely related to Vanessa Fabricius with which it is synonymized by Higgins
(1975) and other authors.  It was separated by Field (1971) on small
differences in the mid- and hindtarsi (paronychia simple instead of bifid)
and in the genitalia, and by differences in wing marking.  In all other
respects the characters are those of Vanessa".

The reference is Field, W.D. (1971)  Butterflies of the genus Vanessa and of
the resurrected genera Bassaris and Cynthia.  Smithson. Contr. Zool.  This
is, I assume, a North American publication.

For those who do not know the story, the origin of the word "Vanessa" is
interesting.  It is found in Jonanthan Swift's poem "Cadenus and Vanessa"
written in 1713, Vanessa being Swift's pet name for Esther Vanhombrugh (it
is a sort of combination of the first three letters of the second name with
the first two of the first) and not, as many have thought, an allusion to
some Classical Greek figure.

Patrick Roper
Butterfly Conservation
============================================================
South View, Sedlescombe, Battle, East Sussex TN33 0PE, UK
Telephone:  (01424) 870208; Fax: (01424) 870208
Email: [email-masked]
============================================================