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Sticker of Weidemeyer's admiral
Bug card No. 4652 of 4,939

Weidemeyer's admiral

Limenitis weidemeyerii
Name means: “named after John William Weidemeyer, an insect scientist”

Weidemeyer's admiral is a smart black and white butterfly. Rows of white spots run across its black wings. Underneath, the black turns brown with grey edges.

Lives in
Western North America, from the Rocky Mountains to California
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Grown-ups drink tree sap, flower nectar and juices from dead animals. Caterpillars eat leaves of aspen, cottonwood and willow.
For real!Photo of Weidemeyer's admiral
Picture by JerryFriedman. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is named after John William Weidemeyer, a bug scientist who lived about 150 years ago.

2

The very first one described came from the Rocky Mountains.

3

It looks a bit like its cousins, the white admiral and Lorquin's admiral.

4

Its caterpillars also eat leaves of ocean spray and shadbush.

you asked

Most asked questions about Weidemeyer's admiral

?What does Weidemeyer's admiral eat?

Grown-ups drink tree sap, nectar and juices from dead animals. The caterpillars eat aspen, willow and cottonwood leaves.

?Who is Weidemeyer's admiral named after?

John William Weidemeyer, an insect scientist from the 1800s.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Limenitis weidemeyerii
Named by
W. H. Edwards, 1861
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Limenitis weidemeyerii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by JerryFriedman. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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Also at home here: Forests and woods

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