Caterpillar foods: nettles (Urticaceae), thistles, Salicaceae ( willows and poplars), Cannabaceae (hops) (Bugguide); Plants in the Urticaceae including Urtica dioica, Urtica gracilis, Laportea canadensis, Boehmeria cylindrica, Parietoria pennsylvanica, Pipturus albidus, and possibly Humulus (BAMONA)
Red Admirals don’t overwinter this far north. They come north every spring – in very variable numbers – and after a generation or two – many fly south again in the fall. (Bugguide)
They prefer sap from trees, animal dung, and fermenting fruit, but will also take nectar from flowers. (BAMONA)
They usually show up here in very early spring – March or April. Some years we see almost none. Other years there are many. We’ve had two years where we saw thousands. One of those years was soon after we first bought the farm. We still had many fences lined with stinging nettles. That year every nettle plant was stripped of its leaves, and dripped with chrysalises.
9/11/2014
10/5/2009
4/10/2011
5/15/2010
8/28/2008
4/22/2012 egg on nettle (Urtica dioica)
4/22/2012
5/21/2012 larva
5/21/2012 larva in leaf shelter
5/21/2012 larva in leaf shelter
5/27/2012
6/4/2012 chrysalis
6/11/2012 chrysalis just before hatching
6/11/2012 newly emerged adult
6/11/2012 newly emerged adult
