Monarchs rule the waves on long-distance journey to UK

Well, impossible or not, I’ve just received two reports, one seen near Leeds and the other at Flamborough.

Monarchs or milkweeds are large American butterflies with wingspans around 10cm or four inches.

They have been much featured on TV as a result of their spectacular migrations from Canada to California and Mexico where they gather in millions to pass winter hanging from trees.

However, they are also found in South America and other parts of the world.

The Butterflies of Yorkshire published in 2005 (details of availability on Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire’s website at www.yorkshirebutterflies.com), provides information on every butterfly species ever recorded in Yorkshire.

It explains that on occasion, these great migrations can get caught up in the wind flows of autumn Atlantic storms and blown eastward towards Britain. It is thought they take just four days to cross the Atlantic. There are even reports of them being able to take a rest on the surface tension of the sea.

Between 1876 and 1940, 148 sightings were officially recorded in the British Isles.

Between 1941 and 1988 there were a further 300 reports logged, whilst 1999 alone added another 300.

It seems likely that changing weather patterns may be responsible for this increase: perhaps another indication of the effects of climate change.

Most British arrivals indicate butterflies coming in from the south-west to reach South West Ireland, the Scilly Isles, Cornwall and Dorset.

But most counties have experienced the occasional arrival. My own researches have turned up six possible Yorkshire sightings: Huddersfield 1917, Bolton Abbey 1934, Harrogate 1986, and East Yorkshire on a date unknown.

The butterfly in my picture was delivered to my door by a group of schoolchildren and their headteacher in 1990.

It had been caught in the playground at Easington (near Spurn) and got damaged in the chase, so my photo was posed just before it died.

It could well have been an escapee from a butterfly house, as could the sixth sighting, in Hornsea in 1997.

But both of these were unusual in being spring observations. The majority of arrivals are in autumn.

However, the species has become established in small numbers in the Canary Islands, the Azores, South Portugal, South Spain, Madeira and even Gibraltar, so might be expected to 
try migrating northward in spring as it would in North America.

Unfortunately, the plants it requires for egg-laying, the milkweeds (Asclepias species) are not found as wild plants in Britain as they are in North America, nor are they often planted in gardens.

So the monarch is unlikely to become more than a rare but exciting visitor and a reminder of the amazing migratory capabilities of butterflies.

This will be my last regular monthly article, but I always welcome reports of any unusual species or butterfly/moth behaviour.

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Editor’s Note: Country Week is extremely grateful to Howard Frost for his columns over the years and wishes him the very best for the future.