A beautiful visitor as millions of painted ladies flutter by
ABOUT once every 10 years there is a remarkable and beautiful natural occurrence in this country.
Millions of painted lady butterflies arrive from mainland Europe, the progeny of insects which left tropical Africa earlier in the year.
Once here they will themselves breed, and their offspring will leave in the autumn to reverse the long journey. This epic, multi-generational, 7,500-mile round trip is double that of the similarly inclined monarch butterflies in North America.
In a normal year up to a million painted ladies arrive here, but for that one year in about ten, 10 times that number appear.
No one knows what triggers these huge numbers. The last time it happened was exactly 10 years ago.
Some butterflies make it all the way to the Arctic Circle. They are found in many other countries, being absent only from Australia and South America. This makes them probably the most widespread butterfly in the world. Painted ladies are about the size of large white butterflies, predominantly orange, with both white and darker markings. When at rest with their wings folded two small blue eyespots are visible on the underside of their hind wings. They are closely related to small tortoiseshell, red admiral and peacock butterflies.
The adults seek out nectar, typically from flowers such as Buddleia, thistles and brambles, before the females lay their tiny green eggs, mainly on thistles, but mallows, nettles and other plants are also used.
The spiny caterpillars are black, with yellow stripes and small white spots. They each make a tent of leaves, bound together with silk, in which they pupate until they emerge in late summer and autumn ready for their journey south.
Butterfly Conservation’s annual Big Butterfly Count, which ran through August, was perfectly timed to coincide with the arrival of painted ladies. Their vice-president, Chris Packham, said recently: “2019 could be a very good year for the painted lady with high numbers already being recorded across parts of the
UK. The butterfly can turn up anywhere so look out for them – you could be witnessing a once-in-a-decade butterfly phenomenon.”
Peter Shirley is a Midland
based conservationist