I have always felt desperately sorry for the beautiful painted ladies, a few of which we see each summer, as I thought that, after a multi-generational journey up from North Africa, they died in our winter. It seemed so....pointless.
Recent research however - many thanks to DM for drawing my attention to this link on the Butterfly Conservation website - has shown that, far from dying, the ladies who make it this far north turn round and go back, making the return journey at speeds of up to 30mph with the help of winds over 500m up, and achieving this 4,500 mile journey in one go. This explains why they were never seen on this leg of their migration - they were too high up.
So now I have to add the painted ladies to the list of wildlife, such as terns, swallows, martins and swifts, which migrates to Africa each winter, the difference with the painted lady being that it takes several generations to make the outward journey while these others do both journeys in one hop.
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