Indian red admiral
The Indian red admiral is a dark butterfly with bright orange-red bands and white spots near its wing tips. It lives high up in the hills and mountains of Asia. It is a close cousin of the painted lady butterfly.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
On cold mountain mornings it sits in the sun to warm up before it can fly.
The caterpillar folds a leaf and ties the edges together with silk. It then turns into a pupa inside this leafy tent.
Males guard a favourite spot and often chase and fight other males.
In summer, males sit on damp ground to drink water.
In 1987 North Korea put it on a postage stamp.
Most asked questions about Indian red admiral
?What does the Indian red admiral eat?
The butterflies drink nectar, fruit juice and water. The caterpillars eat nettle leaves.
?Where does the Indian red admiral live?
In the hills and mountains of South and East Asia, often above 600 metres.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Vanessa indica
- Named by
- Herbst, 1794
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Asia
- Also known as
- Asian admiral
Where the facts come from
- Vanessa indica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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