Dominion Museum RED ADMIRAL

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 46, 18 November 1936, Page 10

Dominion Museum RED ADMIRAL

New Zealand’s Most Common Butterfly RAPID, STRONG FLYER Many observant people who spend, much of their time out of doors will have noticed lately a large, darkcoloured butterfly with conspicuous red markings on the wing'. Popularly known as the New Zealand Red Admiral, and bearing the scientific name vanessa gonerllla, this striking insect is tile most common of the 15 species of butterflies in New Zealand, and forms the centre of the exhibit of New Zealand butterflies to be .seen in the entomological section of the Dominion Museum. Wellington. Tile Red Admiral is found throughout the country, and is exceedingly common from January to April. A variety also is found on the Chatham Islands. Unlike most insects, individuals of this butterfly hibernate throughout the

winter, appearing on the wing again on flue days about Hie end of August. If the winter is mild, stray specimens may be encountered even earlier than this. This butterfly is a rapid and strong flier, and frequently may be seen coursing along the hill-tops at altitudes up to 4000 or 5000 feet above sea-level. In the autumn the- insects often are found feasting on the flowers of white rata or scabious, preparing, no doubt, for their long period of hibernation. Butterfly's Metamorphosis. The eggs of the Admiral tire laid singly on the underside of nettle leaves, and the caterpillar, when it hatches, constructs for itself a small shelter in which it can feed safely concealed from all its enemies. It does this by fastening together with silk several leaves of its food plant to form a kind of tent. When full grown, the caterpillar spins a little patch of silk on the underside of a leaf, and to this it attaches itself by its tail, having first drawn two or three leaves around it, as when feeding. In this position the caterpillar transforms to the chrysalis from which, in a few days’ time, will emerge the perfect butterfly. The transformation, or metamorphosis, as it is called, of this butterfly, is shown diagramatically in a wail picture in the Dominion Museum, called “The Development of an Insect.” Specimens of the Red Admiral often are seen in suburban gardens, especially where there is an abundance of nectar-secreting flowers. They are particularly attracted by the flowers of the buddleia. —Contributed by the Dominion Museum.