Insects of Alberta - Red Admiral

Common name: Red Admiral

Latin Name: Vanessa atalanta (Fruhstorfer, 1909)

Wingspan: 45 - 55 mm

Range: Throughout Alberta

Habitat: Various

Preferred Flowers/Food: Thistles and Alfalfa

Time of year seen: May to October (Additional Sightings)

Caterpillar's Diet: Nettles

Other: The Red Admiral is a distinctive butterfly with bright orange bands on the dorsal (top) side of it wings. There are two generations of this butterfly in Alberta every year. The first is either over wintering adults and adults that have migrated from the south while the second generation is locally grown. The Red Admiral is a widely distributed species ranging from the tree line in the North to Central America at the South end of its range. The butterfly is uncommon, except in the years when mass migrations from the south occur. (Acorn, 1993 and Bird, 1995)