Description
A medium sized butterfly with a 50–60mm wingspan. The top side of the forewings is basically black with a central bright red bar running back from the front edge. There are white spots, fringed with light blue, near the tips. The rear wings are more a dark reddy brown with a red area containing four black circles. The centre of each circle is pale blue. The underside of the rear wings is a mottled collection of shapes and white/brown/black colours – very camouflaged when at rest.
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Folded camouflaged wings
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Eyespot
When revealed, the underside of the fore wings display a striking blue eyespot bracketed by white and red arcs.
Read more about this topic: New Zealand Red Admiral
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