Published byDepartment of ConservationKapiti Area officeP.O. Box 141WaikanaeMarch 2006.

You’ll have to look closely to see a red admirable butterfly while it is sitting. The undersides of its wings are cryptic but when it is flying it is a colourful red. It is a strong and rapid flyer with a wingspan of no larger than 6 cm.

Its favourite food is ongaonga, the native stinging nettle. It is resistant to the plants’ spines and toxins which gives the caterpillar some protection from birds. The red admiral can survive winter by regularly feeding on nectar of flowers of the koromiko and other shrubs. In return the butterfly pollinates the flowers allowing them to set seed. In the spring the butterfly lays its translucent eggs on the new growth of nettles. Eight to nine days later caterpillar larvae hatch and spend four to six weeks in the larvae stage where it is vulnerable to predation from birds, spiders, wasps and other insects.

Other resources

New Zealand Geographic magazine #42 April–June 1999 Life and death among the nettles (Secondary kit only)

www.newzealandbutterflies.org.nz > NZ Butterflies

Red admiral butterfly / kahukuraVanessa (Bassaris) gonerilla

Photo: Jeremy Rolfe. Photo: Rod Morris.

Photo: Rod Morris.