Known as the "cosmopolitan" butterfly and one of the most common butterflies in the world, the Painted Lady Butterfly can be seen all over the United States - but even the most common things can be strikingly beautiful.

The Painted Lady Butterfly is an excellent choice for people seeking to keep a butterfly as a pet. Many companies offer Painted Lady Butterfly culture kits, which will provide you with everything you need to successfully raise these quiet, beautiful creatures. The Painted Lady, as with any butterfly, comes in three distinct stages; it begins as an egg, and takes about three to five days to incubate. After the egg successfully incubates, it becomes a caterpillar, which will eat practically non-stop for anywhere from five to ten days, nourishing itself mostly with sunflower or thistle leaves. After this feeding period, it forms what is known as a chrysalis, commonly known as the pupa stage. About seven to 10 days later, the adult butterfly will emerge - and after a few short hours, your Painted Lady butterfly will take flight. The Painted Lady Butterfly requires a fairly simple habitat; a flight cage for the adult butterflies can be obtained from several companies, it should provide your adult Painted Ladies with plenty of room to stretch their wings, as well as a perfect raising and feeding habitat for the caterpillar stage. While the Painted Lady Butterfly is a beautiful specimen, it will not stay with you for very long; adult Painted Lady Butterflies only last about two weeks and it is a good idea to release them into the wild, since it is difficult to feed them after a certain stage in their lives. Still, raising a Painted Lady butterfly is a rewarding, educational experience and one you will not soon forget. It has been reported that fresh orange slices that have been dribbled in sugar water work for feeding. They are attracted to the color and there is plenty of room for them on it. The orange slices should be replaced daily.

The Painted Lady Butterfly is a beautiful example of a Butterfly. During the egg stage, it will most resemble a pinhead - because it is no bigger than that. At its largest, the caterpillar will be around one to one and a half inches in length, and will be mostly black in color, with a bright yellow stripe running down either side. The adult Painted Lady Butterfly will have two color schemes: the top side of the body, as well as the tops of its wings, will be a soft miasma of orange, black, and brown. The bottom side of its body, and the undersides of its wings, will be mostly gray, with a few spots of red and white.

The Painted Lady Butterfly is referred to widely as the "cosmopolitan" butterfly because it can be seen at different times of the year all across the earth. The oddest thing about the Painted Ladies is that they migrate north in the winter to a climate that they can't possibly survive in and die there every year. This butterfly, unlike the monarch, can't survive in any kind of cold climate, and yet it will migrate north in the winter or simply remain in the United States until it dies. New batches of Painted Ladies will come up from the southern parts of the world every year and suffer the same fate. Yet, the species is thriving; they can be found in almost every area of the world, except Antarctica and Australia.

Painted Butterfly Larvae feed on a variety of plants. Some good choices include, mallows, peas, thistles, and borage. After they evolve into adult caterpillar they will eat a variety of common garden plants. A good way to feed adults is to put some leaves or seedlings in the cage. Some favorites include clover, hollyhock, mallow, alfalfa, and thistles. Adult butterflies are very difficult to feed. Generally, it is recommended that they be released (if the climate in your area permits release). They can sometimes be fed a solution that is not difficult to prepare. Mix a five percent solution of sugar water, producing about an ounce. Take a half of this and put it into a smaller ounce-sized bottle and roll up a paper towel, putting it into the solution enough so that the bottom is soaking in the sugar formula and the top sticks out of the bottle's mouth like a wick. The butterflies can feed on this, and it provides them with the essential sugars they need to survive.

The best way you can go about raising Painted Lady Butterflies is to obtain a culture. Several companies offer these for purchase. This culture will provide you with everything you need to get started. If you already have an adult female, she will generally lay eggs five to seven days after emerging from the cocoon. The hardest part of raising these butterflies is getting them to properly hatch from the egg stage to the caterpillar stage, so here's a few handy tips on how to do that. You'll want to put the vial containing the Painted Lady eggs out of direct sunlight but in an adequately warmed area, with the temperature not dropping below 22 degrees Celsius and not exceeding 25 degrees Celsius. After about 2 days, the larvae will attempt to form a chrysalis, and you should just leave them be at this stage. Once they've developed, you'll want to obtain a small cage, around 2 cubic feet in measure, and carefully transfer them into it. Be careful when moving then into their new container, they are very delicate. It has been reported that using a small artist's brush helps to avoid damaging the caterpillar. Once they are in the enclosure it is important to note that they are very small and can escape through the lid unless it is covered in a very fine mesh. They seem to enjoy feeding on Hollyhock. In about 7 to 10 days, after the caterpillar has already fed enough and formed a new chrysalis, your adult Painted Lady Butterflies will be ready to fly.