Incredible Insects. #12

Hello again everyone! I’m back again with another one of our butterflies. This time it’s the Red Admiral butterfly. This one is very widespread and can be found here in N. America, Central America, Africa, Eurasia and even in Hawaii and New Zealand.

Here in the north they don’t hibernate like many of our butterflies, but they migrate to the warmer south, then return in the spring. They usually arrive by mid May but can return earlier some years if it’s warm enough. They can be seen all summer and into early fall.

Red Admiral Butterfly. They have nice jagged edges on their wings.

They have a wingspan of up to 2 and 1/4 inches (up to about 56mm). They are a beautiful butterfly and, unlike some other butterflies we have, these will sit with their wings spread, so it’s possible to get a nice photo of them. Caterpillars feed on nettles, even stinging nettle, plus a few other plants.

The adult butterfly feeds on a wide variety of flowers such as red clover, spreading dogbane, staghorn sumac, Joe-pye-weed, asters and many others. Even though they are a fairly common butterfly here, it is still possible to go through an entire summer without seeing one.

Here is another look at one.

They like open areas where there are lots of flowers, such as forest edges, trails, fields, moist meadows and marshes. Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you enjoy the photos. Have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. ©2025 Steve McLeod.