Due to a lack of historical information it is difficult to compare the present day distribution of this migrant butterfly with that of earlier times. It is interesting to note, however, that Ellis (1890) commented that the Painted Lady “occurs occasionally and at uncertain intervals”, whilst Day (1903) referred to it as “rather rare inland; more common on the coast at Wallasey, especially in some years”. These statements would seem to indicate that in the late nineteenth century its appearances were far more sporadic than in recent times.
Even nowadays numbers of this butterfly still fluctuate greatly from one year to another – an extreme example being in 1996 when the Painted Lady was seen in 86% of recorded tetrads in Cheshire. An estimation of numbers involved in the 1996 invasion is impossible to gauge, although nationally they must have involved “many million” insects – at Frodsham Marshes in excess of 4,300 were counted on 5th August. By contrast in 1997 the Painted lady was only recorded in 4% of recorded tetrads in the county. Reasons for these fluctuations are mainly determined by climatic conditions in Europe, but even in poor years a few individuals are recorded in the county. Generally, the Painted Lady is less widely distributed than Cheshire’s other regular immigrant, the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), although occasionally this is not the case - most notably in 1980, 1996 and 2004.
In most years sightings of the Painted Lady are fairly evenly spread across the county with only a slight bias towards coastal localities on the Wirral, whilst even in the upland regions towards the Derbyshire border it is not uncommon. This butterfly can be seen almost anywhere as it frequents a range of open habitats including embankments, flowery meadows and areas of rough ground, especially where there is an abundance of thistles. These plants serve as larval foodplants and nectar sources.
In the past arrival times of this migrant have often been erratic, although detailed recording over the past ten years has revealed that during this period the main influx has generally been in late May or early June. Additional numbers are then frequently recorded in August – these can either relate to locally bred insects (most notably during warm summers), or the arrival of a further influx of insects from abroad.
Unlike the Red Admiral there is little evidence of a southerly return migration at the end of the season. Until recently it had been thought that this butterfly could not survive the winter in the U.K. and there has, at least until 2005, been no suggestion that this could have occurred in Cheshire. Nevertheless, there have been recent reports that the species has survived the winter in more southern counties and with climatic changes this could, at some time in the future, occur in Cheshire. It does appear that in the last few years the Painted Lady has been appearing earlier each spring in the county – the only recorded March sightings in Cheshire have been at Inner Marsh Farm (Wirral) on 30th March 2004 and at Audlem on 24th March 2005. Interestingly, this latter sighting appears to have occurred when there was very little migration reported from elsewhere in the U.K
Day, G.O. (1903). A list of Lepidoptera found in the counties of Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbigshire, Carnarvonshire and Anglesea.
Ellis, J.W. (1890). The Lepidopterous Fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire.
Written by Barry Shaw for News, the Cheshire and Peak Distrcit Branch of Butterfly Conservation magazine.