Where did this fake (but realistic) butterfly that I nearly sat on come from?!

[Bladed]

Earlier this afternoon I was about to sit on one of my garden chairs when I saw that a beautiful and very well camouflaged butterfly had beaten me to it.

I’d never seen such a big and striking one and I got all excited thinking how clever it was to have found the perfect place to camouflage itself on. Dd and ds (27 and 18) came out to see what all the fuss was about, and ds went to move it somewhere safely out of reach of the dog and cat (and my considerable arse). And that’s when we all realised it was fake!

Where did it come from?! Who has been placing fake butterflies (or is it a moth?) on my garden furniture?! Why?! So many questions!

It was more camouflaged in real life than it looks in this picture!

Forgot the pic!

It was probably dropped by a bird that picked it up similarly fooled.

I found a plastic very realistic kids prank beetle on a garden path. No kids likely to have access or placed it and I'd just assumed it had been dropped by a bird who thought they were getting a tasty meal and then figured out it was plastic.

Do you think so @OwlBarn? If that’s what happened the bird couldn’t have dropped it in a better place!