Red Admiral
Stinging nettle can be found in canyons and near rivers. If you look for larvae, wear rubber gloves as this host plant can badly irritate your skin and cause a lot of pain!
Click here to watch
a basic video of the Utah Butterfly Field Trips folks looking for and finding red admiral caterpillars on stinging
nettle.
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Red Admiral Adult Series
Here is a photo of two males and two female red admiral butterflies. The males are on the left and the underside (ventral surfaces) are below.
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Stinging Nettle
Close up shot of red admiral larval host plant, stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) growing alongside the Provo River in Utah. When looking for caterpillars, never touch this plant without rubber gloves unless you know what you're doing and have experience with this plant.
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Stinging Nettle Grows in Clumps
Here is a photo of a hectare of stinging nettle.
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Raising Red Admiral Caterpillars
Using rubber gloves, place cuttings of stinging nettle in bottled water. Cork the opening with toilet or facial tissue; so that the plant goes through to the water; but caterpillars CANT! Replace host every five days or so. Make sure your lid either has holes or cut a hole out of the lid and place screen over the hole so that caterpillar frass will dry and not get your larva sick.
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False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindria)
Red admirals use false nettle in the Eastern U.S.
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Raising Red Admirals on Potted Plants
Caterpillars of the red admiral also can be reared on potted plants; either by placing the potted plant, false nettle in this case, in an aluminum reptile cage, or by covering 2 gallon pots with paint strainers.
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Red Admiral Caterpillars on False Nettle
Larvae of the red admiral construct nests and feed on false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica).
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Red Admiral Female Lays Multiple Eggs
One method to hatch multiple red admiral eggs is to place host in a solo cup and allow larvae to hatch. Once they do, place on fresh host either as cuttings using the open bucket method or on potted live plants.
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Hatching Red Admiral Eggs
One method to hatch multiple red admiral eggs is to place host in a solo cup and allow larvae to hatch. Once they do, place on fresh host either as cuttings using the open bucket method or on potted live plants.
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Red Admiral Egg
Red Admiral females will lay eggs on the undersides of host nettles.
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Red Admiral Second Instar Larva Set to Molt
Red Admiral Second Instar Larva set to molt to third instar. If you find any red admiral caterpillar that is set to molt in the wild, and want to raise it at home, either cut the entire stalk of plant or, using scissors, cut around the larva and place on fresh host cuttings. Do not remove it from its nest.
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When looking for nests or larval shelters of the red admiral, looked for leaves that have been rolled in this fashion. Note the feeding damage towards the right of this photo. When red admiral larvae consume a certain percentage of their nest, they move to another leaf to construct a new nest.
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Do not move Red Admiral Caterpillars Set to Molt
Red Admiral First and Second instar larvae both set to molt. These larvae were both moved out of nest; which is not advisable unless you are experienced. To move these off old plant and to place on new, cut around the leaf and place on fresh host. Placing set to molt larvae on paper towel also can work; but is not foolproof.
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Vanessa atalanta rubria Third Instar Nest
Red Admiral third instar larva on stinging nettle after opening its larval shelter.
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Red Admiral Third Instar Caterpillar
The three sets of yellowish colored spines adjacent to the mid-dorsum on third instar larvae of Vanessa atalanta rubria sometimes disappear after the larva molts to fourth instar.
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Red Admiral 3rd Instar Leaf Shelter
Unlike skippers, red admiral larvae will keep frass inside leaf shelter; whereas skippers launch frass away from leaf shelter.
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Red Admiral Third Instar Larval Empty Nest
Red admiral caterpillars will feed off the leaf shelter until they reach a point where they are no longer concealed. At that point, caterpillars will wander to another leaf, construct a new shelter and repeat the process. This makes caterpillar hunting somewhat easlier when you can visibly note several shelters on one plant as caused my one or more mobile larvae. Please note in the Western U.S., that stinging nettle plants that have been stripped by dozens, if not hundreds of larvae are NOT red admiral caterpillars; but are those of the milbert's tortoiseshell whose females lay their eggs in large clusters as opposed to singletons (red admirals.)
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Red Admiral Fourth Instar Larva Set to Molt
Vanessa atalanta rubria fourth instar larva set to molt on host false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica.)
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Red Admiral Fourth Instar Larval Shelter
Vanessa atalanta rubria fourth instar nests with adjacent feeding damage.
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Vanessa atalanta rubria Fifth Instar Larva
Like painted ladies and west coast ladies, last instar larvae of the red admiral can be quite variable. This is one larval form shown on false nettle.
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Red Admiral Larval Variation
Similar to painted ladies, red admiral caterpillars show considerable variation in larval coloration.
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Red Admiral Fifth Instar Larva
Another fifth instar larva with a slightly different coloration. Larva from Florida.
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Red Admiral Fifth Instar Caterpillar
Red admiral fifth instar caterpillar in rolled leaf nest.
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Red Admiral Fifth Instar Leaf Shelter
Larval nest of a fifth instar Vanessa atalanta rubria larva.
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Red Admiral Fifth Instar Leaf Shelter II
Red admiral caterpillar is partly visible in this leaf shelter. Sometimes the larger the caterpillar grows towards maturity, the harder it is to completely conceal itself in its nest.
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Red Admiral Pupal Nest II
Another photo of a red admiral pupa in a silken nest made of stinging nettle. Photo courtesy Nicky Davis.
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Red Admiral Pupal Nest
Similar to other Vanessa spp., last instar larvae of Vanessa atalanta will construct will sometimes pupate in a loose nest protected (to a certain extent) with silken threads to protect themselves from predators. You can see part of the pupa in this photograph.
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Red Admiral Chrysalis
Similar to other brushfoot butterfly caterpillars, red admiral caterpillars will hang by a silken cremaster before forming a chrysalis.
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