Kahukōwhai, yellow admiral, Vanessa itea & Kahukura, NZ red admiral, V. gonerilla gonerilla on host plants Urtica urens & ongaonga U. ferox

The kahukōwhai (yellow cloak) and kahukura (red cloak), red and yellow admirals are depicted here with their preferred host plants - stinging nettles. Kahukōwhai - a native species also found in other countries - is known to prefer exotic nettle species such as Urtica urens (which it is pictured with here) while kahukura - although similar to red admirals found in Europe, Asia and North America, is an endemic species - preferred the native ongaonga, nettle tree, U. ferox with which it is pictured here.

Clockwise from top: Kahukura dorsal view, ventral view, larvae/caterpillar in a silken ‘larval tent’ which acts as a protective camou age from would be predators, larvae/caterpillar, dark and light varieties of kahukura chrysalises, kahukōwhai chrysalis, kahukōwhai larvae/ caterpillar, ventral and dorsal view.

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