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Painted lady

Red admiral

Observations confirm that depending on a year, one of these migrant tortoiseshell butterflies is represented in larger numbers than the other.

 

Migrant painted ladies have been here for a few weeks already, but if someone has spotted any red admirals, information about is very welcome. The aforementioned related species have different main colors, but a diligent observer will find a similarity in the pattern of the triangles on the top of front wings, however the lower sides of folded wings are extremely similar.

 

Both of these migrant butterflies lay their eggs in June in Estonia onto the nettle, like all other tortoiseshell butterflies. In the second part of August, we may come across the imagos from the generation that hatched here and of course a significant amount can also arrive additionally from the south.

 

The imagos which arrived and hatched here won`t make it through the winter – they lack the so-called butterfly hibernation or diapause. They don`t know how to take shelter in buildings like our other tortoiseshell butterflies and before autumn they fly back towards the south; how far depends on „luck“.