The red ring skirt is a large black-and-white butterfly from East Asia, named for the row of red spots near the edge of its hindwings. It is not found in the United States. Its caterpillars feed on Chinese hackberry, and in Japan an introduced population has become a regulated invasive species.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A big butterfly with a forewing length of about 1.6–2.1 in (40–53 mm). Summer adults have black wings with pale streaks and a row of red spots on the hindwing.
- Seasonal forms
- Spring adults are paler with less black. Lab studies show that cool temperatures during caterpillar growth produce this pale spring form.
Where it lives
- Range
- Native to northern Vietnam, southern and eastern China, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula (including Jeju Island), plus Japan's Amami Islands. A population of mainland origin has also spread through central Honshu, Japan, since the 1990s.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- A female lays about 200 eggs. In Japan's Kanto region there are three generations a year, and caterpillars of a partial fourth generation spend the winter.
- Caterpillar food plants
- Caterpillars feed on Chinese hackberry (Celtis sinensis); the Amami uses a related island hackberry.
Name and classification
- About the name
- In Japan, the Amami Islands have a native subspecies. The butterflies spreading around Tokyo are a different, mainland form that people released.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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