I don't think I've ever seen any of these before in my b-fly garden. They're very striking.
Red Admiral Visit
Side view
Top view
Ha! You must be doing something right! Congrats!
~'spin!~
Lovely pictures! The Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta, is one of my favourite butterflies, familiar from my childhood in England. They have quite a wide range and I also saw them when I visited British Columbia in Canada in 1997-8. Here is a picture I took in England in September 1998.
Despite its wide range, the Red Admiral does not reach Australia, but we have one of it's cousins, which is named for its similarity as the Australian Admiral - Vanessa itea. Here is a picture I took in my garden here in Australia, feeding on a Oval-leaved Mint-bush - Prostanthera ovalifolia. It's caterpillars grow only on stinging nettles, so there is a good side even to aggressive plants like nettles.
In January 1991, my family and I spent a holiday in New Zealand. One of the few butterflies I saw and photographed there, was yet another cousin of the Red Admiral, and also sharing its name, the New Zealand Admiral - Vanessa gonerilla. Here it is:
I'm not so sure we have nettles around here so I was suprised to see this guy. I know we have horse nettle but I wasn't sure if it's used as its hostplant.
I'm so hesitant to pull up weeds because I don't know what depends on them. And there's so many species to keep track of!