| Red List status: | Least Concern |
| NERC Act S41: | Not listed |
| Local status: | A migrant, arriving directly from North Africa and the Middle East. Continental offspring may arrive later. Numbers vary each year. In 2009 large numbers passed through Bedfordshire on their way north.
It breeds here but does not overwinter. |
| Size: | Large. |
| Larval foodplant: | Mainly Thistles, but Common Nettle, Mallows and Viper's-bugloss may also be used. |
| No. of broods: | Continuously brooded in North Africa and the Middle East. One or more broods occur here. (Home-bred individuals can fly in as little as a month from being an egg). |
| Flight time(s): | Immigrants begin to arrive early May and may occur throughout the summer. Home-bred broods fly in July and August when numbers peak.
Average first date: 5th May
Average last date: 18th October |
| Winter: | Emigration occurs in the autumn, but at a high altitude so not witnessed. Few, if any, survive in any life-stage in the UK. |
| Habits: | Fast and powerful fliers. Adults feed voraciously on many nectar sources. |
| Habitats: | Anywhere nectar and larval foodplants may be found. |
