The blue admiral is an Asian butterfly, black with a bright sky-blue band across its wings, and the only member of its genus. It lives across much of East and South Asia and is not found in the wild in the US. In cooler places such as Japan and Korea, adults survive the winter and are among the first butterflies flying in early spring.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Wingspan is about 2.4–2.8 in (60–70 mm). The upperside is black with a blue band running across both wings and a small white spot near the forewing tip. The underside is dark brown and gray, a lot like bark or a dead leaf. Females tend to have a slightly wider band than males.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Forests
- Forest edges
- Parks
- Range
- Native to Asia and widespread across East, South, and Southeast Asia, including Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and India. It does not occur in North America.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults rarely visit flowers. They feed mostly on tree sap, and also on animal droppings.
- Activity
- Males are strongly territorial. They watch from a favorite perch, often with wings half open, and chase off other butterflies that come near.
- Overwintering
- In cooler parts of its range such as Japan and Korea, it spends the winter as an adult butterfly, so it is one of the first butterflies flying in early spring.
Life cycle
- Larva
- The caterpillar is covered in branching spines, and its colors vary between . The spines look sharp but are not venomous.
- Caterpillar food plants
- Caterpillars feed on greenbriers (Smilax). Records also include some lilies and related plants, such as hairy toad lily and tiger lily.
Name and classification
- About the name
- It has also been placed in the genera Vanessa and Nymphalis, so older books may call it Nymphalis canace. There are more than a dozen subspecies across Asia, and their caterpillars can look quite different.
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