Queen of Spain butterfly invades Britain – but will it become native?

This year thousands of the golden-coloured butterfly have arrived in Britain in what one expert calls ‘a bold attempt at colonisation’

The Queen of Spain has invaded. The enigmatic British visits of this gorgeous golden-coloured butterfly with distinctively shaped, squared-off hindwings have been recorded by lepidopterists for four centuries. Usually there are barely a handful of sightings each summer of a butterfly that is widespread across continental Europe.

This year, thousands have flown in, some from France and Spain that have reached the south coast, and others from the Netherlands, which have fluttered into East Anglia.

These migrants have bred, and British-born offspring have emerged this autumn. Last week, hundreds were spotted at East Tilbury and Linford beside the Thames in Essex.

“It’s a bold attempt at the colonisation of the UK,” says butterfly expert Neil Hulme. “The numbers that have poured into the UK has been phenomenal.”

Will the Queen of Spain become Britain’s 61st native species? It has probably only successfully overwintered here twice in the last 30 years, at Minsmere in Suffolk in the 1990s, and close to Chichester around 2010.

But Hulme is certain that so many arrivals will mean some butterflies will be seen in Britain again next spring. “That’s not necessarily the same as a permanent establishment, but it could gain a foothold with regular top-ups from continental Europe,” he says.

Butterfly-lovers can plant wild and field pansies – its caterpillar’s preferred food plant – to hopefully help this regal arrival conquer Britain once and for all.