Painted lady butterfly

Painted lady butterfly, breeds in the atlas mountains in Morocco in North Africa.  She lays eggs on wild plants which grow well when Morocco has a wet  winter.The eggs hatch into caterpillars  They eat for four weeks.  The temperature in Morocco rises in late spring and if the caterpillar remains the food plant will die in the heat and having nothing to eat the caterpillar would die also.  It finds a secure branch and starts to spin to hold itself to the twig.  Its skin shrivels and chrysalis forms inside the skin.  The chrysalis dries out and inside the creature metamorphasises into one of natures most wonderful flying machines.  A short while later the fully formed butterfly hatches out.  It takes some time to "pump up" its wings and then is ready for the long journey to Ireland.
They fill themselves full of nectar from plants in Morocco and then set off on their epic journey. They travel 2,500 k to Ireland. The butterfly reaches Ireland, breeds and lays eggs on Irish plants.. It dies and its offspring repeat the process  The cycle is repeated and the new butterfly returns to Morocco to breed.
We can often see this butterfly in our grounds in September.

The painted lady butterfly is the orange and brown butterfly on the yellow flower at the top of the picture.