Red admiral Vanessa atalanta

Features

The red admiral is a migrant who can come to us very early and can fly very late in the autumn, especially on sunny, warm days. It is often sunbathed with outstretched wings when feeding usually the wings close. He often licks the juice of decaying fruit, otherwise he sucks nectar.

Species	Insect
Living space	Treeline
Size	45-60 mm

Description

The forewing of this butterfly bears on a black ground an oblique vermilion band and a group of white subapical spots. On the hindwing the larger portion of the distal margin is red, with a row of small black spots and at the anal angle an elongate blue spot. The underside is partly variegated with blue; the forewing is on the whole similar in markings to the upper, while the hindwing is brightly variegated and clouded, bearing black markings, of which those in the cell resemble a figure (on the left wing 18 or 98, on the right 81 or 89); in the middle of the costal area there is a pale patch and in the distal marginal area a row of ocellus-like spots. Sometimes, especially in the female, the red band of the forewing bears a small white spot in the middle. Reproduction begins in early April. The females scatter the individual eggs on the leaves of the common nettle (Urtica dioica), which the caterpillars feed on. These are secured by twisting the sheet into a funnel shape in which they can later be tucked. The caterpillars are black in color, have tiny and slightly larger yellowish-white spots all over their bodies, and their bodies are covered with tufts of bristles of various sizes and strength. The beetle is pale brown to brownish-purple in color with a few lateral, golden-yellow warty spots. They can occur up to 2 generations per year.