It’s a familiar sight across the UK and Ireland, with vivid red markings on its dark wings. On the underside of the wings, this red changes to a salmon pink streak, surrounded by blue, brown and black waves. The antennae have white tips.
Their caterpillars hatch from nettle patches, and the butterflies thrive in flowery gardens. In autumn, red admirals will often settle on rotten fruits to sip their juices. A few will survive to hibernate through the British winter, and may venture out into the sunlight on a bright cold day. I took the photo below on January 1st.
Red admirals belong to the Vanessa butterfly genus, along with the similarly-shaped Painted Ladies. As a given name, ‘Vanessa’ was invented by the writer Jonathan Swift in 1713.
Sources
RSBP Wildlife of Britain: The Definitive Visual Guide (London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2011) p 202
ed Ross, Angus and David Woolley, Jonathan Swift: Major Works (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) p 657
Eeles, Peter, ‘Red Admiral’, UK Butterflies (2002-2018) https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=atalanta
wildwildweb.org 
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