Painted lady year…

No,  I’m not talking about prostitutes plying their wares,  but the influx of half a million “painted lady” butterflies into Britain from mainland Europe.   It is the largest such event since 2009,  but it is a natural phenomenon which occurs about every decade.    You can  see here  how the insects got their popular name,  but the three-week Big Butterfly Count revealed that other common species also displayed substantial increases over the summer,  due in part to fine weather.