Distribution in United Kingdom

The spread of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in United Kingdom (Great Britain)United Kingdom is a special case in Europe, if not worldwide:

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is not native there, but can be observed there from time to time. The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty does not reproduce in the United Kingdom (Great Britain)United Kingdom either, at most in very rare exceptional cases.

The few specimens seen, mostly in the south-east of EnglandEngland, are either immigrants to the continent or originate from local breeding.

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is sporadically spotted in IrelandIreland.

Every few decades, a large number of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties arrive on the islands.

These years are called Antiopa Years Asher, 2001 - Millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland Chalmers-Hunt, 1977 - The 1976 Invasion of the Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa L.) Salmon, 2000 - The Aurelian Legacy - British Butterflies And Their Collectors:

In 1820, a large number of dead Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties washed up on the east English coast at Durham's, United Kingdom (Great Britain)Durham's (south of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, EnglandNewcastle upon Tyne). They had died while crossing the North Sea Chalmers-Hunt, 1977 - The 1976 Invasion of the Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa L.).

Legendary and unrivalled to this day is the year 1872, the so called annus mirabilis (see Distribution in United Kingdom (Invasion 1872)).

Another spectacular butterfly that also migrates to the British Isles from time to time is the MonarchDanaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)Monarch ButterflyMonarch. In 1995 and 1999 there were many sightings of the butterfly Asher, 2001 - Millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland, which migrates from distant North America, especially in Cornwall. In 1995 there were about 200 sightings, in 1999 there were about 400 sightings.

I was lucky enough to witness this unusual and impressive event myself in the last week of September 1999.

At that time, the MonarchDanaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)Monarch ButterflyMonarch was extremely common in New York, United StatesNew York and the surrounding area. On the east beach of Fire Island, I could see huge numbers of the large orange butterfly flying eastwards towards the open sea. At any given time, I saw at least a handful of butterflies making the long and dangerous journey across the Atlantic.

Some of these butterflies reached the south-west of EnglandEngland after travelling for days across the open sea. However, the conditions there do not allow the MonarchDanaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)Monarch ButterflyMonarch to hibernate successfully, as with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty.

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Jürgen HensleJürgen Hensle pointed out that the Canarian populations of MonarchDanaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)Monarch ButterflyMonarch probably descended from butterflies that continued their southward migration after reaching EnglandEngland (Source: Jürgen Hensle, pers. comm., 2006).

Since 1950, there have been several attempts to reintroduce the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty to the British Isles, but all attempts have failed Salmon, 2000 - The Aurelian Legacy - British Butterflies And Their Collectors.

For example, between July 1956 and August 1961, L. Hugh NewmanL. Hugh Newman released 500 marked Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties from the continent in Kent and Herfordshire - without this having had any effect.

The reason why the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty does not occur or reproduce in the British Isles is probably due to the maritime climate that prevails there and the usually mild winters associated with it. As a result, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is generally unable to hibernate successfully Asher, 2001 - Millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland.

An encounter with the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in British spring is a beautiful but extremely rare experience (in 2007, Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties were sighted in March/April). Whether there are any cases at all in which the butterfly has actually reproduced locally has not yet been clearly established.

In 1872, the so called annus mirabilis There were 436 reports and 150 catches in the British Isles, a record figure that has not been equalled to this day Chalmers-Hunt, 1977 - The 1976 Invasion of the Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa L.).

1976 saw the third largest wave of immigration by the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty to date in the British Isles. The butterfly was sighted in a total of 270 sightings in almost every part of the country that year.

John Michael Chalmers-HuntJohn Michael Chalmers-Hunt investigated the weather conditions at that time during the weeks of immigration and concluded that all the migrating butterflies must have originated from southern Scandinavia Chalmers-Hunt, 1977 - The 1976 Invasion of the Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa L.).

In August 1977, there was a stable area of high pressure over the northern North Sea. A strong wind blew from southern Scandinavia across DenmarkDenmark and the Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands to south-east EnglandEngland. In addition, there were population explosions of the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in Scandinavia, so that many butterflies reached the British Isles in August and September Asher, 2001 - Millennium atlas of butterflies in Britain and Ireland.

With 350 sightings, the 1995 invasion was the second-largest immigration of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in United Kingdom (Great Britain)United Kingdom to date.

Mark TunmoreMark Tunmore suspects Scandinavia as the origin of the invasion of the British Isles by the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in 1995 Tunmore, 1996 - The 1995 Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa (L.) influx. John Michael Chalmers-HuntJohn Michael Chalmers-Hunt suspects the same place of origin for the 1977 invasion Chalmers-Hunt, 1977 - The 1976 Invasion of the Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa L.).

Easterly winds from late July to early August are thought to have carried the butterfly from a high pressure area over Scandinavia to the islands. Sightings were focussed in the East Anglia, Kent and Sussex area. A second focus was in the North Midlands and the north-west of EnglandEngland.

Some butterflies are even said to have succeeded in overwintering, which was concluded from the fact that several sightings of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty were made in spring 1996.

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Migrating Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties were also reported from DenmarkDenmark and Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands in 1995. The reports were made in a period shortly before the British immigration.

Mark TunmoreMark Tunmore also suspects a second source of the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties as a possibility for this reason: PolandPoland and the Baltic states.

This thesis is also supported by Chris van SwaayChris van Swaay and Jürgen HensleJürgen Hensle Swaay, 2003 - The Influx of Camberwell Beauty Aglais antiopa (Linn.) to North-West Europe in 1995. In 1995, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty was also sighted in northern GermanyGermany in areas where it had not been present for decades. However, most of these butterflies migrated further west or north-west.

Chris van SwaayChris van Swaay and Jürgen HensleJürgen Hensle conclude that before migrating to EnglandEngland from PolandPoland or CzechiaCzechia, the butterflies first crossed north GermanyGermany and then Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands. Some butterflies took a more northerly route and eventually reached DenmarkDenmark and south SwedenSweden in this way.

David NashDavid Nash, Trevor BoydTrevor Boyd and Deirdre HardimanDeirdre Hardiman suspect that the four Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties sighted in IrelandIreland in 1995 originated in North America Nash; Boyd; Hardiman, 2012 - Ireland's Butterflies - A Review.