White Admiral

• Latin name: Limenitis camilla
• Family group: Nymphalids
• Countries: England, Wales
• Size: Medium, Large

Resident

Population declining.

The White Admiral is a spectacular woodland butterfly, with white-banded black wings and a distinctive delicate flight: short periods of wing beats, followed by long glides. Adults are often found nectaring on Bramble flowers in rides and clearings. It is a fairly shade-tolerant butterfly, flying in dappled sunlight to lay eggs on Honeysuckle.

The White Admiral occurs widely in southern Britain and has spread rapidly since the 1920s, after an earlier contraction. However, population monitoring has shown a dramatic decline in the last 20 years for reasons that are as yet unclear.

Conservation status

• UK BAP status: Priority Species
• Butterfly Conservation priority: high
• European threat status: not threatened

European/world range

Across central Europe from northern Spain to Turkey and as far north as Latvia, but absent from Scandinavia. Extends throughout Asia as far east as Japan. European range appears to be expanding northwards, but there have been declines in several countries.

Foodplants

The sole foodplant is Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), usually in shady positions.

Habitat

The butterfly uses shady woodland and ride edges, often associated with neglected or mature woodland where there are sunny glades with large patches of Bramble to provide nectar for the adults. It is found in both deciduous and mixed deciduous/coniferous woodland.