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Town invaded by painted ladies on Thursday
(May 28, 2009)WARMINSTER has been in the grip of a gentle and most welcome invasion this week as hundreds of spectacular butterflies have been sighted in the town.
The butterfly in question is the large painted lady variety - the females can measure up to three inches in wingspan.
The warmer weather seems to have encouraged them north as there has already been reports of an explosion in numbers in c
ontinental Europe this spring.
ontinental Europe this spring.“I have been out ‘on the hoof’ a great deal this week and have been amazed at the number of these butterflies which all appear to be flying northwards and they tend not to stay still for very long,” said Steve Dancey, who is much more of a bird fancier than a butterfly man.
“They are a very welcome sight as in recent years very few butterflies have been seen locally - largely as a result of the poor weather but also because many people fail to leave them anywhere to breed by having far too tidy gardens.
“At one point on Thursday afternoon I was seeing about one butterfly a second as I walked through the central car park.”