| White Admiral (Limenitis camilla (Linnaeus, 1764)) |
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Scientific name: Limenitis camilla (Linnaeus, 1764) Common name: White Admiral French name: Petit Sylvain Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Nymphalidae Subfamily: Limenitininae Wingspan: 50-60 mm Biotope: Forests and woodlands Geographic area: Central Europe, including Great Britain and South of Sweden. Absent in Ireland, Norway, Finland and South of Italy. Temperate Asia as far as Japan. Flight time: Mid-June to mid-August. Number of generations : 1 Caterpillar: Green with a dark head and orange hairs or spines which get longer and darker near the head. Host plant: Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum). |
The upper side of the wings is dark brown with white bands and two rows of black dots. This butterflies lives in damp woodlands and is used to flying at a height of two or three meters. It flies slowly alternating short periods of wing beats followed by long glides. It is often seen in clearings where it feeds on bramble blossom. Females are slightly bigger than males. The Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta), which you can see in the south of France, shows a white discal patch and only one row of black dots. The White Admiral over winters as a caterpillar, in a small shelter constructed with a leaf and silk threads. This shelter, called hibernaculum, is secured to a honeysuckle stem. There is a very similar species in North America, Limenitis arthemis. Furthermore, this last one is named with the same English common name, White admiral. |
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I often saw White Admiral flying with typical glides. This times, I saw many landing on bramble blossom. |
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As there is more than one row of black spots on the outer edge of the hind wing, this is a White Admiral and not a Southern White Admiral. |
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There is a great contrast between the upper side and the under side of the wings. |
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Here is a view of the under side of the wings. I always had some difficulties to get close to the White Admirals. |
André Bon June 2009