Painted Lady ( Vanessa cardui )

We haven't had a good year for butterflies, they have been in short supply all season.   Last year we had masses and particularly lots and lots of Painted Ladies.   This is the one and only specimen I have seen this year.

Painted Ladies are butterflies which migrate.  None over winter in the UK so each year they start off in North Africa.  They then move north breeding as they go and each new generation moving further north.  In autumn the return journey begins.  Until recently it wasn't known what happened to them but recently it has been discovered the fly at 500m with speeds in favourable conditions of up to 30 mph.  They take around 6 generations to complete the round trip.