''Limenitis camilla'', the (Eurasian) white admiral, is a
butterfly
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
of the family
Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...
. It is found in woodland throughout southern
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
and much of temperate Eurasia
and the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
, extending as far east as
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.
Adult white admirals have dark wings with white bands. The contrasting colours help to break up the outline of the wing, camouflaging it from predators. They have a wingspan of approximately 60–65 mm and have a distinctive, elegant flight consisting of short periods of wing beats, followed by long glides.
The white admiral is typically found in shady woodland areas, where it feeds on
bramble blossom and
honeydew and the female will lay its eggs singly on wisps of
honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...
growing in dense woodland. The
caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
s are green with red-brown hairs and are camouflaged on a leaf by a mixture of their own droppings and silk. As autumn approaches it will form a tent-like structure made of leaf tissue known as a
hibernaculum which it then secures to the stem with silk before hibernating. The caterpillar will then awaken the following spring and after a brief spell of feeding will moult, revealing a spiny green skin. It will then pupate during the summer, forming a green and gold
chrysalis
A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...
. After approximately two weeks the adult will emerge.
Larvae feed on ''
Lonicera
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely known species include ...
'' (''
L. japonica'', ''
L. xylosteum'', ''
L. tatarica'', ''
L. maackii'', ''
L. gibbiflora'') and ''
Weigela horstensis''.
[
]
Description in Seitz
''L. Camilla'' L. (= sibilla L., aucl. cet.)(57a, b). Very similar to the preceding species [''sydyi'' L. sydyi Led. (female 57a). Blackish brown, with white spots on the forewing and a strongly elbowed white band on the hindwing; at the apex of the forewing, especially in the female, some reddish brown smears. Underside for the most part brownish, the hindwing bluish at the base and abdominal margin, in the distal area with 2 rows of blackish spots, the spots of the outer row being lunate and forming the borders of a further row of whitish spots. The females have a less intense ground-colour, the whitish submarginal spots of the hindwing and the light
and reddish patches in the cell of the forewing are more distinct.]; however, the position of the spots of the forewing is different and the band of the hindwing is but slightly curved, not elbowed; on the underside the black spots in the marginal area of the hindwing are all rounded, there being no band of light spots outside them as in ''sydyi'' Limenitis sydyi'' Kindermann, 1853 East Palearctic">Limenitis.html" ;"title="''Limenitis">Limenitis sydyi'' Kindermann, 1853 East Palearctic [Adalbert Seitz">Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)]
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically:["''Limenitis'' Fabricius, 1807"]
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
*''L. c. camilla'' – Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia
*''L. c. japonica'' Ménétriés, 1857 – Amur, Ussuri, Korea, China
Limenitis camilla MHNT CUT 2013 3 15 Compiegne Dos.jpg, Dorsal side
Limenitis camilla MHNT CUT 2013 3 15 Compiegne Ventre.jpg, Ventral Side
Limenitis camilla - Kotrippe (HS).jpg, Young caterpillar
Limenitis camilla larva beentree.jpg, Caterpillar
Limenitis camilla - Hibernarium 2 (HS).jpg, Larva in hibernaculum
Britishentomologyvolume5Plate124.jpg, Illustration from John Curtis (entomologist), John Curtis's ''British Entomology'' Volume 5
Etymology
Named in the Classical tradition. Camilla in Greek mythology is an Amazons, Amazon who died in the battle of the Rutuli with Aeneas.
External links
Lepiforum de
See also
* White admiral (disambiguation)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limenitis Camilla
camilla
Butterflies of Asia
Butterflies of Europe
Butterflies of Japan
Butterflies described in 1764
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus