📸 PhotoPhoto: Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Indian red admiral
Vanessa indica (Indian red admiral · アカタテハ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A wingspan of 60 mm equals the length of two and a half Korean 100-won coins (diameter 24 mm) laid side by side (Comparison).
- 💡 Among the host plants listed in the National List of Species of Korea is Boston ivy, which is commonly seen on city walls.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Indian red admiral is a brush-footed butterfly seen everywhere in Korea that overwinters as an adult.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its wingspan is 49–60 mm, with well-developed black markings on an orange background and many white spots on the black forewing tips. Unlike the painted lady, the upper side of the hindwing is blackish-brown except along the outer margin.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It produces 2–4 generations a year and appears from May to November. It flies briskly along forest edges, gathers at oak sap, rotting fruit, and thistle flowers, and also drinks water at wetlands. Its host plants include ramie, Boehmeria tricuspis, Boston ivy, and elm.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
The National List of Species of Korea states that it is distributed across the entire Korean Peninsula and can be seen everywhere across South Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • catalogueoflife.org — 7FFBC
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000035861 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000035861
- • wikidata.org — Q1192742
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Vanessa indica-Silent Valley-2016-08-14-002.jpg
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Andy Wilson · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Vanessa virginiensis)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.