The Red Admiral is one of my favourite butterflies. It is common in the UK and can be seen almost anywhere, but it has an interesting life history. The majority of those we see in the spring has actually emerged on the continent or even North Africa. The females lay eggs here and then we see a native bred emergence later in the summer. However in recent years there seems to have been an increasing number of over wintering butterflies and they can sometimes be seen flying on a sunny winter day.
The only explanation I could find for its name was a statement that in the 18th century they were known as Red Admirable and that the modern name is corruption of that.
Pete's Favourite Things 