The red admiral is widely distributed across temperate regions of North Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

[5] The forewing of this butterfly bears on a black ground an oblique vermilion band and a group of white subapical spots.

The underside is partly variegated with blue; the forewing is on the whole similar in markings to the upper, while the hindwing is brightly variegated and clouded, bearing black markings, of which those in the cell resemble a figure (on the left wing 18 or 98, on the right 81 or 89); in the middle of the costal area there is a pale patch and in the distal marginal area a row of ocellus-like spots.

[8] In laboratory tests where larvae were reared at various constant temperatures, a difference in pupal period and coloration was found.

On the dorsal side, its dark wings possess orange bands on the middle of the forewings and the outer edge of the hindwings.

It is not clear whether this later start time is due to lower air temperature or a direct effect of decreased solar radiation.

[14] Mating usually occurs in late autumn or early winter following collective migration to southern regions with a warmer climate.

[16] During migration, the red admiral flies at high altitudes where high-speed winds carry the butterfly, reducing energy expenditure.

[17] Red admirals have color vision in the 440–590 nm range of the visible spectrum which includes indigo, blue, green, and yellow.

In species such as the monarch butterfly that express these lateral filtering pigments, higher wavelengths of light are altered, so they can excite the sensory photopigments.

Of 35 species of butterflies studied in central England, the change in the duration of flight period was most significant in the red admiral, exhibiting a 39.8 day increase.

These changes in migration time and length could result in an increased abundance of red admirals and a northward range expansion.

Warmer climates could lead to an increase in time spent finding mates, laying eggs, and collecting nectar.

Conversely, more frequent droughts associated with climate change would decrease egg survival and lead to habitat and host plant destruction.

[19] The red admiral features in several works of Vladimir Nabokov: Speak, Memory (1951), Pale Fire (1962), and King, Queen, Knave (1968).