White Admiral Butterfly

It’s the first week in September, a warm sunny day. Late this morning I saw a white admiral butterfly with wings outstretched on my warm gravel/sandy driveway, and at noon a cluster was feeding from my old-fashioned hydrangea. Males and females look identical, with the female the larger of the two. Unlike most other butterflies that seem to have a particular ‘season’ the admiral is around from May through September (Limenitis arthemis).

In addition to flying around in low greenery, they seem to like to sun themselves on dirt roads that border mixed forests and lowlands or any area with water nearby. White admirals also gravitate to sunny mud puddles of which we have had many. In addition to sipping water, I think they are probably getting important minerals from the gravel. It’s easy for me to overlook writing about these stunning butterflies because while so many other butterfly species are around for a shorter time, I know these will stay.

It’s impossible not to be impressed by this black butterfly with its broad wing stripe as it flies just a few feet off the ground. The surprise comes when the butterfly folds its wings. The underlying patterns are varied and stunning. From above, the White Admiral has a broad white band crossing a black ground color on both wings. On the hind wing, there is a row of blue spots with red dots. From below, the White Admiral looks like someone painted it! The butterfly has a row of white bands on both wings, with brick red spots near the edge and some blue markings. The average wingspan of this butterfly is about three inches.

Some species of Admiral butterflies (another brushfoot) can be found almost anywhere across the globe but around here we have two species that occasionally hybridize – the black admiral and the rarer red spotted purple admiral. The r/s purple admiral looks almost like a pipetail swallowtail that it supposedly mimics. The first one I saw this year I thought was a black swallowtail with its shimmering dark blue-black wings until I got a closer look.

Admiral butterflies primarily feed on tree sap, dung, and the fermenting fruit of my cherry and pear trees, as well as visiting one of my open compost piles. Now that my hydrangea is in bloom on sunny days, the huge bush is covered with these butterflies. They definitely love the nectar from these old – fashioned flowers along with the honey – bees and hummingbirds that also visit all days long.

White Admiral eggs are laid together on the upper surface of a leaf from the end of May through early September (curiously, I found some on my scarlet runner beans in July). Birch, wild cherry, and the willow family are the most likely candidates for egg laying around here. The eggs hatch after seven to nine days (sources vary). I have never seen one of the caterpillars who are so strangely marked that seeing photos was enough to cement the creature in my memory.

These astonishing caterpillars have peculiar bumps and are black, leafy brown, buff, and white, quite beautiful, I think. The caterpillar goes through five larval stages. To survive the winter, during the second or third stage, the caterpillar hides itself in a cut leaf it has folded and securely attached to the end of a branch with a thread of silk (hibernaculum).
The following spring, the larva continues its development until the adult emerges from the chrysalis. Leaving leaves around on your property will not only enrich the soil, but allow many beneficial insects, including butterflies, to survive.

When you are at the edges of field or forest or walking along a woods road watch for these butterflies and try to look at the underwings if possible. If you are fortunate to catch a glimpse of one of the hybrids you might end up as confused as I was about the identity of the butterfly in front of you! The fantastic array of colors can range from iridescent blue to brown and black.