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Seen more butterflies than usual over the last few days?
As you may be aware, there’s an invasion going on. Painted Ladies, a regular summer visitor to the UK, are arriving in huge numbers.
Here’s footage of some that arrived in Sussex this week, from Birdguides.com (they don’t just do birds, see?).
Reference to these insects as ‘exotic visitors from Africa’, as has been touted by some venerable news sources, is a bit misleading.
They’re African in the same way that a swallow or a cuckoo is African – it’s just as accurate to say that they’re British too. Painted Ladies are always seen – albeit in variable numbers – across the UK in the summertime.
But this IS a big influx. It looks set to eclipse the last major arrival, in 1996, with clouds of them having been spotted all over England and Wales. They’re being seen flying north in determined fashion across both open countryside and urban landscapes. Observers in relatively unremarkable locations have counted hundreds in one sitting.
Catch a glimpse of them in flight, and the overall impression is of a warm brown colour, but seen closely their patterning is more sophisticated – a chequered patchwork of black, white and orange.
Apparently the current invasion was predictable. Unusually high numbers emerged earlier this year from their wintering grounds in Morrocco, following highly suitable weather conditions. This impressive time-lapse film sheds a little light on the process.
Is there *any* evidence to suggest that this influx is due to the fact we’re going to have a blazing hot summer in the UK this year? (Please say yes . . . )
Yes*
(*No)
i have a bush outside my front door and it is covered in painted ladies it is a beautiful site and i quite frankly am enjoying the invasion.
I’m jealous – unfortunately they don’t seem to be stopping much in our garden!
Butterfly Conservation are now asking people to take part in a special UK-wide count on 30 May (this Saturday), to try and assess the true scale of the influx. Details at Birdguides.com. http://bit.ly/193MYU
They’re still coming. Just stood outside for no more than five minutes – and saw at least 30!
Thousands of them been flying over here (Pembrokeshire) all day . Not many landing – they seem to be in a hurry and know where they’re going as all heading in the same direction . I have never seen anything like these numbers before.