After a 21-year study, an international team of researchers presented strong evidence suggesting that the Painted Lady butterfly – previously suspected of crossing the Sahara desert and oceans to reach Europe – can certainly make the migratory journey of several thousand of kilometers.

Researchers from Spain, China, the UK and the Netherlands have found that not only aviators make the trip, but they do so in greater numbers when wetter conditions in the desert help make grow the plants on which they lay eggs. The findings increase our understanding of how insects, including pollinators and disease-carrying parasites, could spread between continents in the future amid climate change.

“It shows how the wildlife we ​​see in the UK can transcend national borders, and protecting these species requires strong international cooperation,” said Tom Oliver, ecologist at the University of Reading and co-author of a new study on the butterflies that appear. in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

As the name suggests, the Beautiful Lady is a colorful creature. Its orange, black, and white patterned wings can be seen in North America, Central America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. (The butterfly is the most common in the world, according to Colorado State University). It is a member of the bush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae, which owes its name to the often hairy front legs of its limbs.

Painted Ladies are highly migratory butterflies, and the distance traveled during their annual migration is known to exceed that of successive generations of monarch butterflies, according to the Washington Post.

The study found that the Painted Ladies’ migratory round trip extended approximately 7,450 to 8,700 miles (12,000 to 14,000 kilometers). Massive migration takes several generations of butterflies to achieve. To cross the Sahara, butterflies must fly non-stop during the day and rest at night, making stops to feed on nectar, according to the study.

Researchers have identified three main factors behind the number of butterflies migrating to Europe: increased vegetation in the African savannah during winter and in North Africa in spring, and favorable tail winds. To take advantage of the winds, insects must also fly up to 2 miles above sea level.

To learn more about the movement of butterflies, they used long-term monitoring data from thousands of trained volunteer loggers, as well as climate and atmospheric data from regions of sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

After a winter breeding season, the Belle Dame migrates in spring. First, Lady Lady caterpillars feed on the leaves of plants that thrive in wetter winter conditions in the savannah and Sahel regions of sub-Saharan Africa. This causes the proliferation of insects. Butterflies migrate across the Sahara, and when spring conditions in North Africa are also wet and green, there is more breeding and the number of butterflies crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe increases.

Using observations of similar butterfly species, the researchers also calculated that the Painted Ladies have enough body fat after metamorphosis to withstand 40 hours of non-stop flight. The stamina of the beautiful lady is inspiring… and humbling, especially considering that the longest trip I took today was to throw a frozen pizza in the oven.