You may not know it by name, but you (0) will certainly recognise a Painted Lady butterfly at the beginning of summer. But what many people do not know is that when these remarkable creatures arrive (21)
their European destinations each year, on occasions forming vast balls in the sky visible from the ground, they have travelled thousands of kilometres from Central Africa, where the species spends the winter. Yet more remarkably, the journey is actually made by several generations moving northwards, a fact established by scientists who used forensic techniques to determine where individual specimens (22)
grown up. Until recently, however, it was not known (23)
the Painted Lady returned to Africa at the end of summer or simply died with the beginning of cold weather. A mass survey in 2009 across Europe provided the answer. It was discovered that the butterfly did (24)
return to Africa; however, the flight was made at a height of 500 metres above the ground, (25)
advantage of favourable winds to reach speeds of nearly 50 km/h. The distances covered are immense - up to 15,000 kilometres - and the individuals that eventually arrive in Africa can be up to six generations later than those that began the southward trip.
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