Range: The Red Admiral is a widespread butterfly found in temperate regions of North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. It's southern North American range extends through Mexico and down into Guatemala. During the summer, the Red Admiral extends its range into northern Canada. It cannot survive the winters in the northern parts of its range but recolonizes every summer. It overwinters as an adult in southern regions and can also hibernate during periods of extreme cold.
Caterpillar hosts: Various species of nettle.
Adult food: Adults prefer tree sap, fermented fruit, bird droppings and other forms of manure. When these are not available they will take nectar from flowers. (The Red Admiral in the top photo is on a piece of plywood that was formerly the bottom to our garden cart which has hauled many a load of manure.)
Sources and More Info:
BugGuide Species Page
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Iowa State University
Wikipedia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
.
