I noticed a Painted Lady bulterfly on my Erigeron. I wondered where she had come from, which led me down one of the most fun curiosity rabbit holes I’ve been down and had me drawing maps of their route based on published research.
The Painted Lady has the longest migration cycle known for any butterfly species, reaching 12,000 km over multiple generations.
Painted Lady butterflies travel from sub-Saharan African directly into Europe. My butterfly probably arrived from France during favourable wind patterns. Painted Ladies have a lifespan of about a month and travel hundreds of km. They “surf” the wind at Speeds of up to 45 kmph.
They follow similar paths every year – but there is variability depending on rain patterns and availability of food. It is likely that they are genetically coded to orientate and navigate given particular environmental conditions.
