Red Admiral

• It is one of the few butterflies that can hibernate as an adult.
• Its English name, red admiral, compares the band on its wing to the braid of a naval uniform.
• Its caterpillars feed on nettle and hop leaves.
• It is migratory, and its cycle was confirmed by analysing stable isotopes in the wings: the individuals arriving in northern Europe in spring come from the south, and those caught in autumn are local or from even higher latitudes.
• On migration it flies at great height, where it rides fast winds that carry it along and save it energy. That is why its passage is almost invisible from the ground.
• In autumn it is often seen on fallen, fermenting fruit, from which it obtains sugars; some individuals end up visibly sluggish.
• Its colour vision spans 440 to 590 nanometres: indigo, blue, green and yellow.
• It is being used as an experimental model for studying navigation in migratory butterflies, because it is easier to handle than the monarch and makes a comparable migration.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat & environment

Damp woodland, gardens, parks, marshes and open fields of Europe, North America, North Africa and Asia

Birth weight

A tiny pale green egg

Size at birth

A tiny newly hatched larva, growing to some 2.5 cm

Sexual maturity

Reached once metamorphosis is complete (no fixed age applies, since maturity comes with the adult emergence)

Gestation / incubation

Egg: ~1 week | Larva: 3-4 weeks | Pupa: 2-3 weeks

Litter / clutch size

Up to 100 eggs laid singly by one female in a single laying session

Sources consulted: UK Butterflies; NHPBS NatureWorks; Wildlife Insight; Animal Diversity Web; Dave the Bug Guy; Butterfly Identification; Wikipedia (Vanessa atalanta)