Journey Of The Painted Ladies

In early August there suddenly appeared en masse thousands upon thousands of painted lady butterflies flitting and flying about, so many that at first it seemed like a plague had hit us. Those not being smashed in traffic on the highways were lighting on crops, trees, weeds, bushes, our driveway and lawn. For several days hundreds of them would scatter away in front of us wherever we walked on the acreage. Now, less than two weeks later, they are mostly gone. Some research revealed they are found all over the world and migrate south to north in the spring then make the trip back in the fall. But since their lifespan is only two to four weeks none of the original travelers return, as it takes multiple generations to make the round trip. The butterflies reproduce along the way and each succeeding generation continues the journey, one that is ingrained, absolute and unwavering. They do what must be done to continue the species, completing their part of the migration cycle before dying. I wonder if we will be seeing caterpillars soon.