The Pioneer White butterfly recently flew through our Village to who knows where

The white butterflies just went through our village again. According to Professor Marcus Byrne from the school of animal, plant and environmental sciences at Wits University this is an annual migration and the white butterflies are called Belenois aurota which means beautiful gold dusting referring to the colour on their wings. 

They might be coming from the Kalahari and travels across the continent but where exactly they are going to is not clear. It is also not clear whether they do a return journey.

On average these insects live for about a month and can travel huge distances on the wind. With all the reports published about insect populations declining one should take heart in natural events like these happening.  

The Belenois aurota belongs to family Pieridae; it is a small to medium size butterfly commonly called “The Pioneer White”. They are mostly found in Africa and South Asia.