Bug FAQBlue Admiral
Kaniska canace · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The Blue Admiral butterfly has a wingspan of about 60 to 70 mm and displays black upper wings with distinctive blue bands and spots on both fore- and hindwings. It lives across south and southeast Asia, from southeastern Siberia and Japan in the north down to India, Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia in the south. Caterpillars feed on various Smilacaceae and Liliaceae plants, while adults are territorial and will chase other butterflies that enter their perches.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Upper side of both fore- and hindwings is black; the underside is black and brown. Forewings have a wavy blue band at the outer edge, a blue or white spot near the leading edge, and a small white spot at the tip. Hindwings show a wide blue transverse band, a row of tiny black spots, and a narrow wavy blue edge.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan is roughly 60 to 70 mm (2.4 to 2.8 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Highly territorial; will chase other butterflies that enter its area. Often perches with wings half-open, basking with wings fully open at times.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on many Smilacaceae species (e.g., Smilax aspericaulis, S. zeylanica) and some Liliaceae species (e.g., Streptopus amplexifolius, Lilium lancifolium).
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Subspecies K. c. canace has orange and white body segments with black spots and spines on the orange segments. It also shows a reddish-brown coloration with gold and silver frontal spots and a bifid head.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Found throughout south and southeast Asia. Range extends from southeastern Siberia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan in the north to India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and parts of Indonesia in the south.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Subspecies K. c. haronica looks similar but may have greenish shading at wing bases, a discal rather than post-discal blue band, and a continuous blue bar near the cell.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaniska_canace
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.