In late March and early April of this year, Butterfly Conservation Ireland member John Lovatt reporting from Cyprus saw hundreds of Painted Lady butterflies in every direction he looked. He went on to estimate that a million butterflies had arrived in the Gkreko Head district alone. The butterflies that arrived in Cyprus are believed to have come from the Middle East. You can see John’s article in the April archive.
In the past few weeks, a heatwave in Europe means that many Painted Lady caterpillar foodplants may have become desiccated, rendering them unsuitable for breeding. This may be an additional factor driving the Painted Lady to cooler areas to the west and north where foodplants remain nutritious. Massive population accumulations in an area may be an impetus behind population movements; some species form swarms when the population is very large and move together. This creates the dramatic spectacle of clouds of Painted Ladies on the move-I was lucky to see this in south-west Galway in late May 2009.
Since the end of June, large numbers of Painted Lady have been appearing along our coasts and soon penetrated inland. It is notable that the butterflies are faded. It usually takes around two weeks of activity to lose wing scales to the extent being observed now. It is likely that the new arrivals are not recently emerged.
Egg-laying has been reported within sight of the sea at Howth on Ireland’s east coast. Perhaps the female/s that laid eggs there had mated before reaching Ireland and laid soon after reaching the land. In Meath and Kildare, I observed males establishing territories along sunny tracks and at wood edges. Some butterflies are migrating within Ireland, or at least dispersing within a locality; on Tuesday, July 2nd I saw over 20 Painted Lady feeding on bramble at a wood edge. All were unsettled and easily disturbed. On the following day, in excellent weather, I saw just three there.
Whatever their movements within Ireland, it is likely that many butterflies will settle to breed. Indeed, today (July 4th 2019) I watched a female lay two eggs on separate Creeping Thistle plants in my meadow. We will, weather permitting, see the native-born generation take flight from late August. It appears that 2019 will be one of those years when Painted Lady outnumbers the Red Admiral, usually our most numerous migrant.
Keep us in touch with your Painted Lady and other butterfly sightings. Email them to us at conservation.butterfly@gmail.com and let us know the number seen, location name, grid ref and date of sighting. We will post your sighting on our 2019 sightings page.
