The most extreme traveler in the animal kingdom: this insect crosses continents and you can see it in the U.S.

The painted lady butterfly sounds as if it might be an artist’s most famous masterpiece but is actually one of the world’s most fascinating insects, not only because of its startling appearance, but also due to its migratory habits.

How far can butterflies fly?

Studies focused on the butterfly, whose scientific name is Vanessa cardui, have found it is one of the animal kingdom’s most extreme travelers, capable of flying more than 4,000km - and perhaps significantly more - from one side of the world to the other.

The most widespread of the butterfly species can typically be found on every continent, with the exception of Antarctica and South America, although some have traveled to the latter.

Joint research carried out by scientists from the University of Ottawa, Uppsala University in Sweden and the Institut Botànic de Barcelona in Spain tracked painted lady butterflies originating from different locations, with results showing their travel behavior varied depending on where they came from.

How butterflies are tracked around the world

Clement Bataille, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Science, explained how his team had managed to follow the butterflies on their journeys: “By analyzing hydrogen and strontium isotopes, we traced these butterflies back to their origins and estimated how far they had travelled, confirming distinct migratory behaviours”.

Many originating from Scandinavia in northern Europe were found to have flown over 4,000km to sub-Saharan Africa in early autumn, crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert.

The leapfrog phenomenon

Butterflies from southern parts of Europe and Africa were more restricted in their movement, many being leapfrogged by more adventurous insects from further north - a phenomenon which had already been discovered by earlier research.

A similar study conducted in 2013 revealed that painted lady butterflies had flown at least 4,200km from West Africa to French Guiana in South America. However, researchers calculated the real distance could have been over 7,000km due to the fact many of the creatures originate in Europe.

What butterflies’ travel habits mean for world

The findings are, however, much more than just an interesting fact, as explained by Megan Reich, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa and co-lead author of the study.

“Understanding insect migratory patterns is crucial for conservation and for biosecurity. Future studies are needed to confirm the connection between migration distance and environmental conditions and, importantly, identify the triggers of insect migration. This work is vital because it will allow us to predict how human-driven changes to the environment may impact insect migration in the future.”

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