Bug FAQRed-spotted Admiral
Limenitis arthemis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: Western White Admiral, White Admiral
The Red-spotted Admiral is a medium-sized North American butterfly whose males and females look alike, though females are a bit larger. It has a dark blue upper wing surface with a white band across both wings and a similar pattern on the underside.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upper side of the wings is dark blue with a white band across the middle of each wing. The underside is also dark with a broad white band near the middle.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females are slightly larger than males, but otherwise the sexes look the same.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They live in deciduous woodlands, especially shady forest edges and roadsides.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on birch, willow, poplar, and chokecherry plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There are two generations each year, from April to October. The first generation forms a hibernaculum as half-grown caterpillars and overwinters until spring.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from spring through fall, covering two broods.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is widespread across North America, especially the northern part from New England and the Great Lakes up into Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is known for hybridizing with related forms, and the white admiral form shows a bright white band.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 48 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.