Red Admiral ((Vanessa atalanta), first reported on our butterfly page by Barry Saxifrage, and spotted on Cortes Island near Salmonberry Lane in June 2021.
September 2022 sighting: by B. Anderson, Cortes Island garden.
The distinctive black, orange and white red admiral is one of the most commonly seen butterflies, with a range extending from New Zealand to North America. It is a mid-sized butterfly with a wingspan of four to eight centimetres. The red admiral feeds on a variety of foods including sap, nettle, hops, fermenting fruit and even bird droppings. Read more in this Nature Conservancy Canada page.
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