60. Butterflies cross an ocean
The Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) is an impressive migrant that often travels in large numbers from North Africa to Northern Europe. But research just published shows that it can do something even more remarkable. Painted Ladies collected on the coast of South America had, it seems, crossed the Atlantic from West Africa! They might even have started their journeys in Europe. If so, they would have travelled - in total - some 7000 km, or more! Astonishing, even by comparison with the mighty Monarch butterfly, though the Painted Ladies would have been helped on their way by the Trade Winds.
