Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta

Scientific Name: Vanessa atalanta (Nymphalidae Nymphalinae).


English Name: Red Admiral (Brush-footed butterflies family,  and Vanessids and Netted Fritillaries sub-family).


French Name: Le Vulcain (='The Vulcan').

5 Key Characters:

• upperside black with a red band.
• medium to large sized butterfly (about 60 mm from wing tip to wing tip).
• fore wing tips have white spots.
• underside of hindwing is an attractive brown and black marbled pattern.
• attracted to ripe fruit and ivy flowers in the autumn.
  

Lookalikes: None.


Habitat: Open areas, open woods and woodland edges, orchards and gardens.


Flight Period: March-April-May-June-July-August-September-October-November.

Caterpillar: Black with yellow crescents along the sides, very variable in colour and extent of crescents. Eats nettles (Common Nettle Urtica dioica, Lesser Nettle U. urens) and sometimes Eastern Pellitory-of-the-Wall Parietaria officinalis.

Status: Very common, abundant and widely distributed.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature: