THE ANIMAL FILES

Red admiral

Vanessa atalanta

One butterfly carries both a bright display and a brown marbled underside.

Red admirals have dark upper wings crossed by orange bands and white spots. Their larvae use nettles and related hosts, while adults can defend perches and undertake seasonal journeys. Different life stages connect host plants, local behaviour and migration.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Red admiral
Image: Didier Descouens · Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Larval hosts
Nettles and other suitable plants[1]
Wing underside
Brown marbling on the hindwings[1]
Male behaviour
Perching and chasing territorial intruders[1]

A host for the caterpillar

Stinging nettle is an important larval host, with other plants also used. The caterpillar is not feeding on the same liquid resources as a flying adult. Laboratory rearing shows development time changes with temperature, so a fixed number of days cannot describe pupation under every field condition.[1]

Two sides of a wing

The upper surface has orange bands against dark wings, with white near the forewing tips. Brown marbling is prominent below the hindwings. Opening or closing the wings presents different surfaces to an observer. Seasonal forms also differ in size and pigmentation, adding variation within the same species.[1]

Territory and travel

Males can chase intruders along spiralling flights before returning to a perch. Seasonal migration operates on a larger scale. European wing-isotope studies support southern origins for spring arrivals in the north, with autumn samples showing different origins. These observations distinguish short territorial flights from movements between regions.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does defending a perch mean an adult never migrates?

No. Local territorial behaviour and seasonal migration occur at different scales.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why sample wing isotopes rather than infer origin from wing colour alone?

Reveal the explanation

Chemical signatures can supply evidence of where a butterfly developed, while colour also varies with season and other factors.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Vanessa atalanta (adapted and translated; exact revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Vanessa atalanta (identity and game lineage)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

Monarch butterflyOne migration route can take more than one generation to complete.Danaus plexippus ↗Large white butterflyA cabbage leaf and a flower feed different stages.Pieris brassicae ↗Old World swallowtailA swallowtail caterpillar changes disguise as it grows.Papilio machaon ↗