Red Admiral theory

[Phil Bowler]

It always amazes me that year after year in our one acre butterfly garden, a male Red Admiral will take up his territory in exactly the same area of our woodland garden, around a bramble thicket. I had accepted this simply as a coincidence but on the 16th May 2022 I thought differently. I was standing at the other end of our land and observed a fast flying Red Admiral coming in over the garden from the south-east, continuing towards the woodland garden. I followed suit and sure enough a Red Admiral was in position around the brambles. Was it the one I had just seen? I hadn't noticed any others that day. It is still there two days later. This made me wonder: could these exact spots be somehow inbuilt into the progeny of these previous migrants, so that they have a specific destination? There is another area of our garden where the exact same thing happens each year, but even more interesting was a thought from decades ago involving a former place of work. I remember in my lunch hour taking a walk outside to a wild strip of land beside the building, rich in wild flowers. Every year there was this one Red Admiral there without fail. Then the strip got concreted over, yet the Red Admiral still returned, despite there being nothing for them any more. Food for thought....

[bugboy]

I think if we look at the bigger picture rather than focus on one species the answer becomes quite obvious. Given that the sole role for an adult butterfly is to reproduce and they need to do this as quickly and as efficiently as possible, many species use territorial behaviour to maximise their chances. This comes in various guises but are pretty much all variation on a theme. Examples include your standard territorial behaviour seen by Vanessids (such as your Red Admirals)' Duke of Burgundy and Small Coppers amongst others. Then we have hill topping, lekking and master trees etc. Each species will have its own variation genetically imprinted on its behaviour that fits its chosen habitat requirements, some more specific than others. Each spring I can pretty much bet my mortgage on where the first adult hibernators will set up territories on my local patch and Purple Emperor & Brown Hairstreaks will use the same master trees year after year. Your Red Admiral corners clearly fit its needs perfectly and give the male the best chance of mating since the female will have the same genetic memory to search out these perfect spots, hey presto, next generation sorted

Hope that makes sense.

[David M]

It's just a question of certain butterfly species doing what's hard-wired into them (as Paul states above, this is driven by reproductive requirements to guarantee ongoing survival).

Every year, I can practically guarantee Commas will be in a particular hotspot near my workplace; that Speckled Woods will be occupying the sunken crater at Cwm Ivy; that Grizzled Skippers will be along a particular stretch of bank on the dunes, etc...

They all have their own specific preferences, and the more like heaven-on-earth it is to them, the likelier it will be that they will be present.

Clearly, you have inadvertently created a Red Admiral paradise, Phil. If you rearranged things then they would probably no longer frequent that spot (not that I'm suggesting you try it!!)

[Chris L]

I am only just starting my third season but I have an area on one of my transects where I can guarantee a Comma will take up a territory on one set of brambles and a neighbouring set up of brambles will be taken by a Peacock. I spend quite a lot of time watching them as part of my learning. I refer to them in my mind as the 'Neighbours from Hell', from the TV series of the same name. They basically spend the whole day squabbling, keeping guard over their respective patch of brambles.

I have often stood there watching them and thought about the ancestral line and that which is hardwired in to them. The Comma and the Peacock occupying the brambles are descendants of those that have gone before, looking after their respective bramble territory in a 'hand me down', property inheritance kind of a way. It has been a source of much fascination, joy and learning for me.

That which always fascinates me about butterflies is when I can see clear parallels with human personality traits and behaviours. It is absolutely mind blowing at times for me.

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Phil, there is another point which needs to be drawn out here, which is that the Red Admiral you see day after day may not be the same individual, but merely the one that is in control of that prime piece of territory at that particular time.

I did a study of overwintering Red Admirals on my local patch in Crawley in 2014/2015 which I have not got round to publishing, of which the following part is relevant to your question:-

"The butterflies would bask in an area towards the north end of the site, with a south-facing ivy hedge or adjacent tarmac being the prime territories. Most sightings were only of singletons, which were easy to keep track of, but on occasions where another individual arrived, there would be an aerial battle and the winner would take control of the ivy hedge. This territorial behaviour was observed from November to March. On one occasion (18th March 2015) the hedge was occupied at 11.30am by an individual that had won it the previous day, then won by another at 12.30pm and then by a third individual at 2.30pm. Those that were deposed were not subsequently seen in the locality on that same day. There were no significant nectar sources to draw the butterflies into this area and no feeding was observed. It seems to me that, because the site is on a small sheltered hilltop, it could also possibly be a territorial/congregation area for passing males and not just for the ones that had managed to survive here thus far. However, this can only be a speculative observation. On really warm days towards the end of March there were no sightings in this specific location and none at all in April regardless of the temperature. In total there were 31 butterflies seen during the survey period and 12 of them were positively identified as separate individuals".

Vince

[Chris L]

That was a fascinating read Vince. Thank you for posting that.

[Phil Bowler]

Many, many thanks to you all for adding to this thought provoking subject. I really don't care if we never truly solve these type of questions. I just love being fascinated by butterflies whether i can understand their behaviour or not! Keep up the debate please. Cheers.