The Red Admiral caterpillar is about 1 5/8 inches long when mature. The color is variable, ranging from almost white or yellow-green to black. It has tiny white speckles sprinkled over the body and 2 larger white spots on the face. It has black and white spines and a broad, whitish strip along the sides. The adult butterfly has a wingspan of approximately 2 inches. Dorsally, it is black with bright red bars across the forewing, white spots at the tip of the forewing and an orange-red border on the hindwing. Ventrally, it is mottled brown on the hindwing and the forewing has white spotting at the tip, followed by a blue spot and a showy pink bar across the middle of the wing.
Population numbers vary. Some years it is a very common emigrant from the south and other years it is scarce. The adults can be seen nectaring on flowers in gardens, prairies and in the woodlands at Fontenelle Forest and Neale Woods.
Host plants are nettles, false nettles and pellitories. In years, such as 2012, when caterpillars are numerous, it is common to see the top leaves of the nettles turned under where the caterpillars are in their leaf shelters. The shelter is held together with a silk web.
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