The butterfly benefit…

There’s been a huge influx of painted ladies across the nation. At the moment, the painted lady is our numerous garden butterfly here.

They’re migratory butterflies and travel from Northern Africa to Europe in relays. They fly part of the journey and stop to lay their eggs - typically on plants such as nettles.

Their young will hatch , pupate and emerge as adults to continue the onward journey. Their flight is a distinctive beat-beat-glide.

Painted lady nectaring on sweet rocket

At some northerly point they turn and begin the relay journey back to Africa.

Painted ladies are seen in many places in Africa, not just the north. When we saw them in South Africa it was like unexpectedly meeting an old friend.

The Africaans name for a painted lady is Sondagsrokkie, which translates to "Sunday's dress" or "Sunday's frock. I can see that.

Bernie Taupin used the name of the butterfly for his lyric to ‘Sweet painted lady’ with Elton John on the ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ album.

These irruptive years don’t come very frequently. In some years the painted ladies are absent.

Load your garden with simple flowers and you’ll reap the butterfly benefit. And as they feast on our nectar-laden plants, we’ll enjoy them while we can.