Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)

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Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)


Photo © Peter Eeles
FamilyNymphalidae
SubfamilyNymphalinae
GenusNymphalis
Speciesantiopa
Authority(Linnaeus, 1758)
English NameCamberwell Beauty
European Red List 2010Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2010Least Concern (LC)
European Red List 2025Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2025Near Threatened (NT)
Habitats Directive
Bern Convention
CITES

Description

The Camberwell Beauty is an imposing butterfly, which can fly large distances, although this only happens in some years. It occurs near patches of woodland in stream valleys, gullies, along woodland edges and on scrub. Because they are fairly mobile, they can be seen in open countryside far away from their foodplants. The female lays her eggs in large clusters around the twigs of birches (Betula spp.), willows (Salix spp.), and poplars (Populus spp.). At first, the caterpillars live together in a communal web, becoming solitary when nearly fully-grown. The caterpillar is easily recognized, black and spiny with a double row of red spots on its back. They pupate on the bark of the foodplants. The adult butterflies hibernate in a hollow tree, wood pile or just hidden in the vegetation, and wait for spring before mating. The Camberwell Beauty has one generation a year.

Distribution

Albania / Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders (Regionally Extinct) / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Database Error: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Operation not permitted