Red admiral facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Red admiral
dorsal view
ventral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Vanessa
Binomial name
Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758)

The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a very well-known and colourful butterfly. You can find it in many parts of the world, including temperate Europe, Asia, and North America.

This butterfly has a wingspan of about 45 to 50 millimeters (around 2 inches). Red admirals usually live in warmer places. However, they are famous for flying north in the spring. Sometimes, they even migrate again in the autumn.

The New Zealand red admiral

Indian red admiral at Simla, India

About the Red Admiral

In northern Europe, the red admiral is one of the last butterflies you might see before winter arrives. They often feed on the flowers of ivy on sunny days.

These butterflies can also hibernate (sleep through winter). When they wake up, they often have darker colours than butterflies from the first group born that year. You might even spot a red admiral flying on sunny winter days, especially in southern Europe.

In North America, red admirals usually have two groups of young butterflies born between March and October. Most of North America gets new red admirals each spring. These new butterflies fly up from warmer southern areas, like south Texas, where they spend the winter.

There are other types of red admiral butterflies too:

• The New Zealand red admiral (Vanessa gonerilla) lives in New Zealand.
• The Indian red admiral (Vanessa indica) lives in India.

Meet the Painted Ladies

The painted lady, showing the underside of wings

The painted ladies are a special group of butterflies, a bit like cousins to the red admirals. They are part of a subgenus called Cynthis. The top side of their wings is mostly orange.

This group includes several types:

• The painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is found almost all over the world!
• The Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) lives in Australia.
• The American painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis) lives in America.
• The West coast lady (Vanessa annabella) lives along the west coast of North America.

Amazing Migrations

Australian painted lady, feeding

The painted lady butterflies in the UK fly south for the winter. Scientists have even tracked them using radar! They fly very high up, on a journey that can be as long as 9,000 miles (about 14,400 kilometers).

It can take many generations of butterflies to complete this huge round trip from tropical Africa to Europe and back. Each new generation continues the journey.

Huge numbers of these butterflies migrate. For example, radar showed that 11 million painted ladies flew into the UK at high altitudes in the spring of 2009. Then, 26 million were counted leaving in the autumn! It's an incredible journey for such small creatures.