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Butterfly Garden

Red Admiral on Feb. 1

four (9B near 9A)

last month

last modified: last month

I looked up distribution information in the USDA website, learned that Red Admiral is abundant everywhere. Well, not in my yard. I never see more than one in any year (last two years none), always one very brief presence, always early April or late March.

What has been your experience?

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Comments (5)

Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
last month
I am not seeing them often, maybe a dozen times a year. And they don’t stick around if they are here. I planted lots of false nettle 5 years ago, but no luck getting any eggs.
four (9B near 9A) thanked Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
PRO
The Logician LLC
last month
Red Admirals can overwinter; any seen in early spring may be worn-out individuals that do not live much longer.
four (9B near 9A) thanked The Logician LLC
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Thanks Sherry and Sandy. I knew you'd know the answer since you've raised them. I've never had the opportunity yet, but I want to this year if I can get them to stop here again. I agree about the stinging nettle. That's one plant that I really wouldn't want here at all really. Both my husband and I get poison ivy pretty badly, especially him. I'm really afraid of someone accidentally touching the plant (stinging nettle) and getting a rash because of it. I'm actually surprised that I'm not allergic to rue, but so far so good. What makes me itch after I handle it is tropical milkweed. I keep it though because the Monarchs like it so much. It's not a rash or anything like poison ivy, just whatever is on the plants that makes me itch temporarily until it's washed off, kind of like going through a cornfield and having an itch until it meets up with some soap and water. Cathy
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It's really hard to find these native plants that nobody grows but us butterfliers, Maryann! LOL! Did you look at the Prairie Moon website, or Shady Oaks? You might have to get them mail order if you cannot locate them growing naturally somewhere. False nettle likes boggy, filtered sun areas, where it grows naturally. It will grow with less water in the garden, after it is established. I just hope I can winter over the ones I got this year. If not, I think I will chalk it up to being a plant that I will just not be able to grow, or will have to grow as an annual. Hopefully, having more plants this year, I may at least be able to get some seed. There is another plant in the nettle family that does not have the stinging hairs either, but I don't recall the name right off the top of my head. I'll do some searching again and see if I can figure it out. Congrats, MissSherry, on your chrysalises! Susan
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I was raising some Red Admirals this year, and had the same experience, with heavy parasitization. Some of the cats died early; others pupated, and the parasitic larvae dropped out of the side of the chrysalis and fell to the floor of the container, where they crawled around for a while - and then underwent their own pupation. So... I kept the pupae of the parasite. And about a week later I was totally gobsmacked to see what emerged -- a common housefly (Musca domestica). I had been hoping for an exotic wasp like an Ichneumon, but it was a plain old ordinary housefly. After I get better organized I'll write up some of this for a separate post with some photos.
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I was working out in the garden on Saturday and was visited by a Red Admiral (finally; something besides a cabbage white!!!). Talk about a social butterfly! It followed me around everywhere I went, and when I went in the house, it landed on my window. Maybe it was a combination of the red tank top and the sweat, lol. When I came back out, it followed me around some more. Wherever I worked, it found something to nectar on. I believe it was truly happy when I sat on the stair of the deck; simply couldn't get enough of the potted urn of lantana at the bottom of the stairs. It made my day!
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docmommich
last month
When I had significant patches of nettles in my previous yard, I would see RA in early spring, but not at any other time. This is a good reminder to me to plant some nettles in the back 40 (actually 11) to allow for the possibility of RAs to visit and settle down. I'm boosting the general nectar/pollen providing plants, but will also focus on more host plants, as I come across them.

Martha
four (9B near 9A) thanked docmommich
four (9B near 9A)
Original Author
last month
I always (in season) keep some Clustered Pellitory, Parietaria praetermissa.

Even twice saw R.A.s find it. Visits not repeated.
arbordave (SE MI)
last month
According to the Wisconsin Butterflies website (see this link - Red Admiral ) their abundance can vary greatly from year to year. The graph of sightings on their webpage peaks in late June to early July, but at my location I've noticed them more in late summer and early fall. I've kept a casual log of the butterflies I've seen in my yard over the last few years, and in 2021 I was seeing Red Admirals on a regular basis in August and early September. Their numbers were definitely lower last year (2022), which I'm guessing may have been related to an unusually dry summer here.

The Wisconsin article indicates that "weather conditions for overwintering Red Admirals to the south, combined with conditions during April and May when they are traveling, determine the number of butterflies we see here in Wisconsin [and other northern regions in summer]".

Red Admiral on my Heptacodium 9/15/22
four (9B near 9A) thanked arbordave (SE MI)

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