''Vanessa'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of brush-footed

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the tribe

Nymphalini Nymphalini is a tribe of nymphalid brush-footed butterflies. Common names include admirals, anglewings, commas, and tortoiseshells, but none of these is specific to one particular genus. The name anglewing butterflies is an English translati ...

. It has a near-global distribution and includes conspicuous species such as the red admirals (e.g., red admiral, Indian red admiral,

New Zealand red admiral The New Zealand red admiral (''Vanessa gonerilla'') is a butterfly endemic to New Zealand. Its Māori name is ''kahukura,'' which means "red cloak". The red admiral is a member of the family Nymphalidae, the subfamily Nymphalinae and the tribe ...

), the Kamehameha, and the painted ladies of the ''

Cynthia Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, ...

'' group (formerly a subgenus):

Painted lady ''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan. Description File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...

American painted lady The American painted lady or American lady (''Vanessa virginiensis'')West Coast lady The West Coast lady (''Vanessa annabella'') is one of three North American species of brush-footed butterflies known colloquially as the "painted ladies". ''V. annabella'' occurs throughout much of the western US and southwestern Canada. The ot ...

Australian painted lady The Australian painted lady (''Vanessa kershawi'') is a species of butterfly mostly confined to Australia, although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, including New Zealand. Debate surrounds the taxonomy of this spe ...

, etc. For African admirals, see genus ''

Antanartia ''Antanartia'', commonly called (African) admirals, is a genus in the family Nymphalidae found in southern Africa. They live along forest edges and are strongly attracted to rotting fruit and plant juices. For other admirals see genus, '' Vanessa ...

''. Recently, several members traditionally considered to be in the genus ''

'' have been determined to belong within the genus ''Vanessa''. The name of the genus may have been taken from the character Vanessa in Jonathan Swift's poem "

Cadenus and Vanessa Cadenus and Vanessa is a poem by Jonathan Swift about one of his lovers, Esther Vanhomrigh (Vanessa), written in 1713 and published as a book in 1726, three years after the death of Vanhomrigh. It contains in its title an anagram and a neologism: ' ...

," which is the source of the woman's name

Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...

. In the poem Vanessa is called a "nymph" eleven times, and the genus is closely related to the previously-named genus Nymphalis. Though the name has been suggested to be a variant of "Phanessa", from the name of an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

deity, this is unlikely. The name of the deity is actually not "Phanessa" but

Phanes Phanes ( grc, Φάνης, Phánēs, genitive ) or Protogonus () was the mystic primeval deity of procreation and the generation of new life, who was introduced into Greek mythology by the Orphic tradition; other names for this Classical Gree ...

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...

, the

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

who named this genus, normally used the original forms of the names of classical divinities when he created new scientific names. North American species in the genus overwinter as adults.Scott, J. A. (1999)
Hibernal diapause of North American Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea.
''Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera'' 18(3):171-200.

Species

The 22 extant species are: *''

Vanessa abyssinica ''Vanessa abyssinica'', the Abyssinian admiral, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The habitat consists of montane forests. The larvae fe ...

'' ( C. & R. Felder, 1867) – Abyssinian admiral *''

Vanessa altissima ''Vanessa altissima'', the Andean painted lady, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Ecuador and Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol ...

'' ( Rosenberg &

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

, 1914) – Andean painted lady *''

Vanessa annabella The West Coast lady (''Vanessa annabella'') is one of three North American species of brush-footed butterflies known colloquially as the "painted ladies". ''V. annabella'' occurs throughout much of the western US and southwestern Canada. The oth ...

'' (Field, 1971) – West Coast lady *''

Vanessa atalanta ''Vanessa atalanta'', the red admiral or, previously, the red admirable, is a well-characterized, medium-sized butterfly with black wings, red bands, and white spots. It has a wingspan of about . It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) – red admiral *'' Vanessa braziliensis'' (Moore, 1883) – Brazilian painted lady *'' Vanessa buana'' ( Fruhstorfer, 1898) – Lompobatang lady *''

Vanessa cardui ''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan. Description File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – painted lady or cosmopolitan *''

Vanessa carye ''Vanessa carye'', the western painted lady, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in South America, from the mountains of Colombia and west of Caracas (Venezuela) through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, southern Brazil, and Parag ...

'' (

Hübner __NOTOC__ Hübner is a Germanic surname, sometimes spelled Huebner or Hubner. The name means an agricultural worker, a farmer, possibly and specifically one who worked a "hube", which was a piece of land roughly equivalent to the English measuremen ...

812 __NOTOC__ Year 812 ( DCCCXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 11 – Ex-emperor Staurakios, a son of Nikephoros I, di ...

– western painted lady *'' Vanessa dejeanii'' Godart, 1824 *'' Vanessa dilecta'' Hanafusa, 1992 *'' Vanessa dimorphica'' (Howarth, 1966) – dimorphic admiral or northern short-tailed admiral *''

Vanessa gonerilla The New Zealand red admiral (''Vanessa gonerilla'') is a butterfly endemic to New Zealand. Its Māori name is ''kahukura,'' which means "red cloak". The red admiral is a member of the family Nymphalidae, the subfamily Nymphalinae and the tribe ...

'' ( Fabricius, 1775) – New Zealand red admiral *''

Vanessa hippomene ''Vanessa hippomene'', commonly known as the southern short-tailed admiral, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae which is native to South Africa and Madagascar. Wingspan is 45–45 mm in males and 42–48 mm in females. Has two or ...

'' (Hübner, 1823) – southern short-tailed admiral *'' Vanessa indica'' (Herbst, 1794) – Indian red admiral or Asian admiral *''

Vanessa itea The yellow admiral or Australian admiral (''Vanessa itea'') is a butterfly native to Australia, New Zealand, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Islands. The Māori name is , which means "yellow cloak". The yellow admiral is a member of the family ...

'' (Fabricius, 1775) – Australian or yellow admiral *''

Vanessa kershawi The Australian painted lady (''Vanessa kershawi'') is a species of butterfly mostly confined to Australia, although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, including New Zealand. Debate surrounds the taxonomy of this spec ...

'' (McCoy, 1868) – Australian painted lady *''

Vanessa myrinna ''Vanessa myrinna'', the vivid painted lady or banded lady, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with in ...

'' (Doubleday, 1849) – vivid banded lady or banded lady *''

Vanessa samani ''Vanessa samani'' is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found on Sumatra, where it has been recorded from Mount Kerinci and the Karo Mountains.Vanessa tameamea'' (Eschscholtz, 1821) – Kamehameha butterfly *'' Vanessa terpsichore'' Philipi, 1859 – Chilean lady *''

Vanessa virginiensis The American painted lady or American lady (''Vanessa virginiensis'')773 __NOTOC__ Year 773 ( DCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 773 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

– American lady or American painted lady *'' Vanessa vulcania'' (Godart, 1819) – Canary red admiral Butterfly in Ngorongoro Crater (Vanessa abyssinica) (374882367), crop.jpg , ''

'',
Abyssinian admiral Painted Lady (32780566383).jpg, ''

'',
West Coast lady Ringve botaniske hage foto-åge hojem NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet DSC3075 (15264124156) cropped.jpg, ''

'',
red admiral Vanessa braziliensis.jpg, '' Vanessa braziliensis'',
Brazilian painted lady Vanessa cardui05(js) Lodz(Poland).jpg, ''

'',
painted lady Vanessa carye (vista superior) cropped.jpg, ''

'',
western painted lady NZ Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa gonerilla).jpg, ''

'',
New Zealand red admiral Vanessa indica 6.jpg, '' Vanessa indica'',
Indian red admiral Yellow Admiral 05.JPG, ''

'',
yellow admiral Australian Painted Lady.jpg, ''

'',
Australian painted lady Vanessa myrinna, crop.jpg, ''

'',
banded lady Kamehamehabutterfly2.jpg, '' Vanessa tameamea'',
Kamehameha butterfly Vanessa terpsichore.jpg, '' Vanessa terpsichore'',
Chilean lady Vanessa virginiensisPCCP20030904-2871B.jpg, ''

Vanessa virginiensis The American painted lady or American lady (''Vanessa virginiensis'')Vanessa vulcania'',
Canary red admiral

Fossil species

A fossil species, '' V. amerindica'', is known from a specimen found in the

Chadronian The Chadronian age within the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology is the North American faunal stage typically set from 38,000,000 to 33,900,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to fall within the Eocene epoch. The Chadroni ...

-aged Florissant Lagerstatte, from Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and coexisted with several other extinct butterfly taxa.Miller, Jacqueline Y., and Frederick Martin Brown. "A new Oligocene fossil butterfly, Vanessa amerindica (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), from the Florissant formation, Colorado." Bulletin of the Allyn Museum (USA) (1989).

References

External links

Iastate.edu: More information about the genus ''Vanessa''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanessa (Butterfly) Extant Eocene first appearances Nymphalini Butterfly genera Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius