Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Photo By Jean-Pol GRANDMONT – Self-photographed, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27747981

Dear Readers, today is a stressful day because later this afternoon I have to wrestle Abbie, our new foster cat, into a carrier and off to the vet for a check-up. It’s always a performance because although Abbie is the sweetest cat in the world she turns into a Tasmanian Devil if someone even  tries to pick her up, let alone put her into a carrier, and for an old age pensioner (she’s fourteen) she’s surprisingly quick. So wish me luck! But for 15 minutes I stood outside as Painted Lady after Painted Lady drifted past. It’s been a phenomenal year for these butterflies, particularly in the south of England, but they are in fact the most widespread butterfly in the world, with populations on every continent except Antarctica. Perhaps it’s appropriate that in North America the butterfly is known as ‘The Cosmopolitan’.

The number of Painted Ladies varies year or year, as these insects are migratory (main routes below).

Painted Ladies have a multi-generational migration pattern – no one butterfly will make the whole trip from North Africa to Scandinavia or the UK, but their children or grandchildren  might. This year’s butterflies may be the offspring of French or Spanish Painted Ladies. Do they ever head back south, though? The answer seems to be yes: in autumn, Painted Ladies have been seen migrating back across the channel, though they fly at such high altitudes that they are rarely witnessed. What probably drives them is the availability of adult nectar resources – they mate and lay eggs continually during migration, sometimes laying eggs on highly unsuitable plants that have lots of nectar. Fortunately, the caterpillars have varied tastes, and will eat anything from thistles to mugwort. As the eggs are laid with little regard for the caterpillar’s welfare, it’s just as well that they’re well camouflaged, and hide in little silk ‘nests’ at the top of leaves.

Painted Lady caterpillar (Photo By Harald Süpfle – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7529515)

So, do keep your eyes open for these little beauties – they’re easily mistaken for Small Tortoiseshell at first glance, but note the yellow patches on the forewing, and those  blue ‘scallop’ markings. I don’t think I’ve seen a Small Tortoiseshell yet this year.

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) Photo By Jörg Hempel, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27756983

So, has anybody else done the Big Butterfly Count yet? I think I might give it a second go in the back garden and see who fancies the Hemp Agrimony.

And now I’m off to catch a cat….