This is a Monarch butterfly, and they are regular in the backyard at the moment. Quite spectacular. You would think there'd be no problem in identifying such a distinctive insect, but you would be wrong, because there is another species, the Viceroy, which mimics the Monarch. Apparently - and I have no personal experience of this - the Monarch doesn't taste nice, so the Viceroy figures it will be left alone by birds that have had a bad mouthful of Monarch.
And here is the Viceroy:
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