Available again in 2011. So much a part of our summer, it is sometimes easy to forget that this wonderful butterfly is actually a migrant from North Africa. Often found feeding on Thistles, Buddliea and other nectar rich flowers, the adult darts and flits in a powerful fashion in gardens and open land. The Painted Lady manages two broods and lays its eggs on Thistles and Nettles whilst here but is then killed off as the weather gets colder. Larvae can be reared easily on potted nettle in flowerpot cages.
In favourable years the Painted Lady can be seen in countless swarms; arriving first in Europe and then the UK. The cause of these mass migrations are heavy winter rains in the Atlas Mountains of Morroco, which enable the larval foodplant to grow in profusion, which in turn leads to a population explosion. 2009 was the most recent example of this amazing phenomenon.
