Yellow Admiral

Vanessa itea · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae

Also called: Australian Admiral, Yellow Admiral Butterfly

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Yellow Admiral
Photo: Tony Wills, CC BY-SA

Adults have dark forewings with white spots, a bright yellow bar, and red near the body, while the hindwings are dull red with black borders and blue-centred black spots. They live in open areas, gardens and wastelands where nettles grow, up to 1000 m altitude, and feed on various nettles and other plants as larvae, and on nectar or tree sap as adults.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Prefers open country, wastelands and gardens where stinging nettles (Urtica incisa, Urtica urens) are present. Found up to 1000 m above sea level.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on various nettles and related plants such as Urtica incisa, Urtica urens, Parietaria species, Pipturus argenteus and Soleirolia soleirolii. Adults drink nectar from flowers and sometimes tree sap.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are on the wing during the warm months, varying by region (e.g., November-May in Tasmania, September-April in Victoria). The final brood of a season usually overwinters as larvae, but in some areas adults may survive the winter dormant.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Flight period covers the warmer months of the year and differs by location.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Yellow Admiral photo 3
Photo: Jon Sullivan, CC BY

Same family (Nymphalidae)

MonarchMonarchDanaus plexippusRed AdmiralRed AdmiralVanessa atalantaPainted LadyPainted LadyVanessa carduiGulf FritillaryGulf FritillaryDione vanillaeSpeckled WoodSpeckled WoodPararge aegeriaEuropean Peacock ButterflyEuropean Peacock ButterflyAglais io

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_admiral

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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