The red admiral was previously known by the common name, the red admirable
When I took this photo, I had just finished up a scuba dive in the middle of Indiana. The water had been a brisk temperature, and I was ready to heat up. My towel was being guarded by this beautiful butterfly, which is known as a red admiral. If you’ve never dove in Indiana, then you’re in for a real treat. You’ll get up close and personal with some curious fish. You’re likely to see bass, bluegill, and other sunfish, that will swim right up to you as they explore this intruder in their underwater world. This red admiral was not nearly as brave, and I had to snap some quick photos before it decided to take flight.
The red admiral was previously known by the common name, the red admirable. Its scientific name is Vanessa atalanta. The first person to describe this butterfly was Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in his 10th edition of “Systema Naturae”. As you can tell from the photo, it is a black butterfly with orangish-red bands and white spots. It grows to have a wingspan of about two inches. The red admiral is less skittish than most butterflies which may explain why it had landed on my towel.
The larvae of the red admiral are black with white speckles and it has bands of red dots dividing its body. On each of the red dots is a black spike. The larvae like to find themselves on stinging nettle and false nettle. These would be considered their host plants. The larvae grow to be about one inch in length. Depending on how warm it is in the environment of the red admiral pupae, this stage of its life will last between six and fifty days. If it is a high temperature, the pupae are a bright scarlet. If the temperatures are lower, they are black with a smaller scarlet area.
The red admiral has an interesting courtship ritual. The males will perch in a territory during the afternoon until sunset. They maintain these territories because females prioritize mating with males that maintain a territory. Males will guard their territory by flying around the perimeter between seven and thirty times per hour. The territory could be as big as 24 by 42 feet. The males that are most successful at maintaining their territory are the most likely to mate.
Females prioritize mating with males that maintain a territory
Did you know?
- The red admiral will migrate in the late fall or early winter shortly after mating.
- The only colors that the red admiral can see are indigo, blue, green, and yellow.
- These butterflies can be found in North Africa, North America, Central America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and on the islands of Hawai’i.
- The females select where to lay eggs and tend to specialize narrowly. This gives the larvae a more predictable foraging habitat on nettles.
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