Vanessa kershawi

Australian Painted Lady at Belconnen, ACT

Vanessa kershawi at Belconnen, ACT - 26 Oct 2016
Vanessa kershawi at Belconnen, ACT - 26 Oct 2016
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Identification history

Vanessa kershawi 27 Oct 2016 SuziBond
Vanessa kershawi 26 Oct 2016 JanetRussell

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4 comments

SuziBond wrote:
   27 Oct 2016
Hi, I notice you've recorded this individual as a male. It can be difficult to determine the gender of Australian Painted Ladies and I was curious to know what features you used to identify it as a male?
JanetRussell wrote:
   27 Oct 2016
Suzi, the butterfly book I have shows the underside of the wing of the male. I put the second photo in to show it. I thought the female wing underside was rather more plain.
SuziBond wrote:
   28 Oct 2016
Both sexes are almost identical and have the same underside pattern on their wings. In his 'Butterflies of Australia' book (2000), Braby recommends examination of the fore leg to reliably separate males from females.
JanetRussell wrote:
   28 Oct 2016
Thanks Suzi. I don't really have any expertise and I was misled by the photo and information by Robert Fisher in his field guide. I have to confess I have never examined the fore leg. Shall I leave it to you to edit the entry?

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • 12mm to 25mm Animal size
  • Male Gender

Species information

Record quality

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  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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