Wildlife: Will this be a Painted Lady summer?

As late summer reaches its peak, there is the question of how the weather will pan out. A long, warm summer can be great for butterfly numbers as it allows second breeding generations or perhaps third.
Ian RotherhamIan Rotherham
Ian Rotherham

At present, I have holly blues, meadow browns, gatekeepers, small whites, red admirals, and peacocks all regularly on buddleia and other garden flowers. However, I am still waiting for my first records this year for one of the real stunners, the painted lady. One of our most spectacular butterflies, they have arrived abundantly in the eastern lowlands but so far, not in my wildlife garden. The question then is whether the influx from the east will continue and turn this year into a ‘Painted Lady summer’.

These stunning insects cannot overwinter here, as they do not survive the cold winter months. The close relative, the peacock butterfly, manages rather better by turning sugars in its blood into glycerol, which acts as a kind of anti-freeze. The peacock thus survives winter and it is out-and-about on the first warm days of late winter and early spring.

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However, not so the painted lady, which dies out in winter and each year, must re-colonise into Great Britain. The remarkable thing about this behaviour is that the butterflies migrate back from North Africa where they spend the cold period and sometimes on satellite images great clouds of them can be seen as they move from Africa and over the Mediterranean into southern Europe. From there it is a long hop to our shore and if weather is good and numbers rise, then the painted ladies breed over here and carry on moving westwards and northwards. Apparently, the impetus to move on is triggered by increasing population density and contacts with other individual butterflies. So far, I have seen good numbers around the lowland valleys of North Lincolnshire and around the fringes of the North York Moors. Nevertheless, will they press on to the west and my wildlife garden? Maybe readers can email their records and photographs if you do spot one.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham is contactable on [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and on Twitter @IanThewildside