July 2026 Photo Information

Animal and Camera Details

July

Species shown: Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

Painted lady is one of the most widespread of all butterfly species, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America. In North America it was formerly called the cosmopolitan. It occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland. I have seen hundreds of them in Senegal along the coast, in the Netherlands their occurrence varies from one year to the other. For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. Also in the USA painted ladies migrate enormous distances. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.

The photo was taken in my garden with Canon EOS R5 with Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, f/8, 1/1250s, ISO1000