100 More Species #8: Red admiral

Red admiral Vanessa atalanta

Here's a creature I've seen a lot of this spring. Is it because I'm more aware of it now that I know what it is, or has it been more abundant? The red admiral is an abundant butterfly, and is found throughout the northern hemisphere. Its caterpillar feeds on various kinds of nettles, including the all too common (for those of us who must work outdoors around it) stinging nettles. This individual was pausing its energetic flight to sun itself on a rock on one of our backyard perennial beds. This species was featured in my 2010 50 more urban species project also at the end of May.