Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

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Family : Nymphalidae

The Monarch, our largest butterfly, is a rare and sporadic migrant to Britain and Ireland. The majority of sightings are in the south-west of Britain. Although the butterfly now breeds in the Canary Isles and in a very restricted area in Spain, these migrants almost certainly originate from North America, as their arrival to our shores usually corresponds with major migrations there coinciding with favourable weather conditions that bring them across the Atlantic