Richard Collins: The journey of the painted lady butterfly that has raised eyebrows

In 2013, a flock of painted lady butterflies turned up on a French Guiana beach

A painted lady butterfly resting on a flower.

We are all butterflies; Earth is our chrysalis — Lee Ann Taylor 

Butterflies symbolise fragility and the transience of life, but a discovery in South America has raised entomological eyebrows; a flock of painted lady butterflies turned up on a French Guiana beach in October 2013. Although the painted lady is one of the most widely distributed butterfly species worldwide, it is absent from South America. So from where had these visitors come?