Cynthia (butterfly)

Cynthia is a group of colourful butterfly species that used to be considered a subgenus of the genus Vanessa, in the family Nymphalidae. Before that, it was first described as a genus. Nowadays, this group is not considered a valid taxon anymore, because it is paraphyletic. The name Cynthia Fabricius, 1807 is now a junior subjective synonym of Vanessa Fabricius, 1807.

In English, the species of the Cynthia group are sometimes collectively referred to as the painted ladies, although the name "painted lady" usually specifically refers to the near-cosmopolitan species Vanessa cardui.

The Cynthia group includes at least five species (to which some authors add other South American Vanessa species):

• the Painted lady (Vanessa cardui), which is almost global in its distribution,
• the Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi), mostly present in Australia,
• the American (painted) lady (Vanessa virginiensis), mostly in North America,
• the West Coast lady (Vanessa annabella) in Western North America,
• the Western painted lady (Vanessa carye) in South America.