Red Admiral

An Impressive Range

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) has an impressive range including Europe, northern Africa, Eurasia, in North America northern Canada to Central America, Hawaii, New Zealand, and a few of the Caribbean Islands.

The Red Admiral has a wingspan of 1 3/4 to 3 inches. Their larval host plants are all members of the Nettle family (Urticaceae).

As adults, Red Admirals feed on nectar, they also seek moisture from mud, dung and even carrion.

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Red Or Orange?

A stunning butterfly. Just look at those colors. Black and white, rich purplish-blue, and that red (orange?). This, the dorsal side (or top side) of the butterfly.

This is a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) which has an impressive range including North and South America, Europe and Asia. And of course because of its vastly different homelands it also has many, many different host plants. Here in Virginia their main host plant is Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica).

Here is the ventral (underside) side of the Red Admiral. Quite a different look.

As an adult the Red Admiral has a life of about 10 months during which they consume tree sap, the juices of rotting fruit, and the moisture from bird droppings. If these choice liquids aren’t available they’ll resort to drinking the nectar of Milkweed, Clover, Aster, and Alfalfa flowers.

One of so many butterflies to make our world beautiful!

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Drama At The Web

Spiders love to decorate for Halloween, and I appreciate it so much. They spin their webs all over my cabin, making it look wondrously spooky.

This is the species of spider that created the web where this drama occurred today at lunch. A Spotted Orb Weaver (Neoscona crucifera).

As I sat eating lunch, I noticed a bit of action taking place at one of the spider webs, just outside the window. A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) had become tangled in the web and was fluttering about madly. The spider was sitting on the web looking quite pleased and hungry.

And then, out of the blue, “Here he comes, to save the DAY!!” A migrating, Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) enters the scene. I don’t know if it was attracted by the brilliant red-orange of the butterfly’s wings, or if perhaps the tiny bird was thinking of stealing the spider’s meal. Hummingbirds do eat insects, by the way, including insects trapped in spider webs. It approaches the trapped Red Admiral and in short order the butterfly escapes – becoming nobody’s meal, and the hummingbird came around to the feeder filled with syrup, just for the migrating hummers.

Rotting fruit, sap flows on trees, and even bird droppings. The favorite foods of the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. If the Red Admiral can’t find these it will sip flower nectar from Common Milkweed, Red Clover, Aster, and Alfalfa and more.

The dropping Persimmons here on my mountain have been a bigtime draw for these beautiful butterflies, and Coma and Question Mark butterflies. Try putting out some extra ripe fruits to see if some of these butterflies will come by for a visit.

Red Admiral

A beauty, though small, stirs my curiosity as he flutters by, giving me very little time to capture his image with my camera. A Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. A butterfly that you just might see if you put overripe fruit out on your back porch, since this is a favorite food. Also at the top of the culinary treats they enjoy, are sap flows in trees such as these, pictured below, created by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.

The Red Admiral has a wing span of about 2 inches or just a smidgeon more, and appears to have bunches of nervous energy, much like a fidgety little kid.

Here in central Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, there is an abundance of the native plant, Wood Nettle. As larvae, Red Admirals dine on plants of the nettle family, including Wood Nettle, Laportea canadensis. The image below is Wood Nettle, a perennial herbaceous plant with upper leaves that are alternate. The flowers you see in this photo are male flowers.

Female flowers form on the same plant, and bloom at the top of the plant, as shown in the next image.

This is not a plant that you want to brush against, since it causes an instant, unpleasant, burning and itching feeling. Fortunately this irritating sensation lasts for just a short time, but it’s best just to avoid it.

Given the wealth of Wood Nettle along the trails here in the mountains, I do not wonder at all why these beautiful butterflies accompany me as I hike these mountain trails.

Butterflies mostly black, with brilliant red, bright blue, and striking white dots. I welcome their company.