Order: Lepidoptera (le-pid-OP-ter-a) (Info)
Family: Nymphalidae (nim-FAL-ih-dee) (Info)
Genus: Vanessa
Species: atalanta
Profile:2 positives
No neutrals
No negatives
Regional...This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: ,
Canoga Park, California
Bear, Delaware
Divernon, Illinois
La Grange Park, Illinois
Coatesville, Indiana
Greenwood, Indiana
Atalissa, Iowa
La Place, Louisiana
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hudson, New Hampshire
Marlton, New Jersey
Cincinnati, Ohio
Glouster, Ohio
Newark, Ohio
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Alexandria, Pennsylvania
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania
Arlington, Texas
Brenham, Texas
Cleburne, Texas
Edinburg, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas (2 reports)
Houston, Texas
San Isidro, Texas
Member Notes:
| Rating | Author | Comment |
| Positive | Malus2006 | On Jan 23, 2008, Malus2006 from Coon Rapids, MN
(Zone 4a) wrote:A species that tend to be single and constantly searching when favorite flowers are not common or habitation is unsuited. When there are large amounts of "butterfly flowers" in large open sunny location as in public gardens, large amount of Red Admirals will gather and stays nearby. They tend to fight frequently or try to mate with each other, even chasing other butterflies species away. May have repeating lifecycles in one year. Birds loves them even thought they are fast flying. Compare to some other species they are moderately slow and tend to flies in open spaces and try to depend on their agility to outwit birds. Old individuals may bear the scars of near misses and have fading colors. Those must be the most experienced ones as they will live for a long time, nearly one month or two in adult form. Males often gather on large amounts of butterfly flowers like for example a group of 3 or 4 butterfly bush that is pruned daily to continue flowering, defending their territory for females who may be attracted to the flowers. I have found dead ones, most likely exhausted from all the competitions. Females tend to be the wandering sort, looking for host plants to lay their eggs on. Adults come out Early to Late Summer with the first or second batch the most common untill birds reduce their numbers.
I gather this from observation from a seasonal job summer of 2007 on a rich person's butterfly garden. I also see them in my yard but single and never stay for very long. | | Positive | aggscott | On May 8, 2008, aggscott from Wilkes Barre, PA
(Zone 6a) wrote:The Red Admiral was one of the first butterflies in my area last year and would fight and chase the other butterflies off the flowers. I raised a few on Nettle and found that they are great to raise, easy as long as the Nettle your using isn't stinging Nettle! |
| | By kennedyh
 By kennedyh
 By wallaby1
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 By kropit
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