The Improbable Painted Lady

click on image for a better look

 

Jill snapped this photo on Thursday - an American Painted Lady butterfly on a dandelion. 
 

This was a day of firsts - the first dandelion of the season and the first butterfly of the season.  Which got me thinking about the butterfly - it was awfully early in the season for a butterfly considering the joint was under a couple feet of snow three weeks ago. 
 
Moreover, a little bit of web research told me the life expectancy of this butterfly is only a few weeks.  The timing of this appearance seemingly defied logic.  Unable to reconcile this freak of nature I fired-off an email to a professor with the University of Wisconsin's Department of Entomology:

 

Professor Goodman...

I have a question for you.

The photo (attached) is our first dandelion of the season and I believe an American Painted Lady butterfly.  Photo was taken today.  The interweb tells me the life span of this butterfly is only two weeks and it has been dreadfully nasty weather here. 

Did this butterfly blow-in from somewhere else as some sort of super migrator? 

Location is outside of Brussels, WI (southern Door County). 

Thank you, in-advance, for any assistance you can offer. 

Regards, 

Tom Gaertner

 

Yesterday I received these replies: 

 

Mr. Gaertner, 

 

Yes, I think you have it correct but I will send this message to our diagnostician, PJ Liesch, who will verify your ID. 

 

This butterfly, in Europe, migrates from near the Arctic Circle to Africa.  There was a Nova program on several weeks ago about it.  These butterflies don’t have the flash of a Monarch so they are less well studied.  Two scenarios could have taken place; it was blown in on the south winds that we have been having or it may have overwintered in your area and came out with the warm weather. 

 

Thanks for catching spring’s early harbinger in pixels. 

 

Walt Goodman  
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Greetings Tom,

 

Yes—looks to be the "American Lady" aka American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis).  I suspect it's most likely an "out-of-town" visitor.  For a while it was thought this species could overwinter in our area as an adult as some butterflies can, but it's now thought that they likely migrate up here from warmer locations.  However, it usually gets up here pretty early and can be spotted early in the spring some years (depending on the weather).   Additional info (including sightings recorded by date) can be found here for the state: https://wisconsinbutterflies.org/butterfly/species/90-american-lady. 

 

---PJ
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The Monarch butterfly migrates between Canada and Mexico.  However, no single monarch makes this entire journey. The round trip is done by a succession of as many as five generations of butterflies. 

 

The migration of the Painted Lady appears to rival that of the Monarch.  This butterfly is known to migrate between Europe and Africa - yet the route has been largely unknown. 

 

Scientists had tracked the butterflies to northern Africa (the region known as the Maghreb), but there have been hints that they may fly across the Sahara.  Several studies back up this claim.  If this is factual these butterflies could be traveling more than 2,500 miles in a single generation — a potential record for a migratory insect. 

 

Sure, this stretches the limits of credulity however another study found that with favorable winds painted lady butterflies could travel almost thirty miles an hour.  At that speed it would take them as little as four days to make it from Central Europe to Central Africa.  One trip for one generation.

 

All of this sheds a new light on the early appearance of this harbinger of spring.  A speedy migration or the prospect of over wintering scenarios suggest that the American Painted Lady butterfly is one tough hombre.  It sort of makes the much-vaunted Monarch butterfly appear to be a slacker.  I'll post the earliest appearance of Monarchs here on our butterfly ranch.  For the present we'll enjoy the ladies....