Red admiral

Ian has sent in pictures of a late season red admiral.

Red admiral numbers have increased in recent years and there is evidence that, as the climate has changed, some have begun to overwinter in the far south of England. As far as anybody can be sure, red admirals do not hibernate: they don’t enter a long dormant stage like peacocks and small tortoiseshell do. During cold weather, they seem to roost on tree trunks or other places where their underwing pattern makes them inconspicuous, and fly around and just get on with life on winter days when the weather is better.

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[1] Red admiral on nettles and [2] its camouflage underwing pattern.

Let’s hope that Ian’s specimen is going to survive the coming winter.