We have seen lots of the Red Admiral Butterflies in our orchard in the last few weeks (August/September).
Latin Name: Vanessa Atalanta
Description: The Red Admiral is a brightly coloured butterfly with red bands and white spots on a black wing.
Size: The wingspan of the Red Admiral is approximately 60-70mm.
Habitat: The Red Admiral lives in gardens, hedgerows, orchards, woodlands and meadows.
Food: They eat nectar, fermenting fruit such as apples, plums and pears, brambles, buddleia and nettles.
Distribution: The Red Admiral can be found throughout the UK.
Months Seen: This butterfly can be seen between May and October.
Did You Know?
- Females lay one egg at a time leaving up to a dozen under nettle leaves.
- Red Admiral butterflies migrate from Southern Europe and Northern Africa.
- The Red Admiral caterpillar is yellowish brown to black with a row of yellow spots on each side. It has short black spines and has white speckles on it.
- Red Admirals will migrate South in the summer.
- These butterflies can spend Winter as sleeping adults but in order to survive they need a warmer climate.
I first published this post back on 4th August 2007.
Butterflies Red AdmiralButterflies, Red Admiral
This post first appeared on Farming Friends – Meet The Animals And Harvest The Information Without Getting Your Hands Dirty!, please read the originial post: here
