Red ring skirt
Adults of this butterfly ignore flowers entirely, instead sipping tree sap, rotting fruit and even animal dung through a long proboscis.
| Where | Woodland and riverside hackberry trees |
|---|---|
| Size | 40 to 53 mm forewing length |
| When | May to October |
The Red ring skirt is a large black-and-white butterfly with bold white bands across both wings and, in summer-generation adults, a row of red spots near the margin of the hindwing; spring adults are paler with reduced dark scaling. Forewing length is about 40 to 53 mm.
Caterpillars feed on hackberry leaves (Celtis), and adult males perch high in trees to defend territory, while adults of both sexes probe sap flows, fallen fruit and damp ground rather than visiting flowers.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Black, White, Red
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to people; a fast, high-flying butterfly that never visits flowers.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Very similar black, white and grey wing pattern and the same hackberry host plant, but Hestina japonica lacks the row of red spots near the hindwing margin that gives the red ring skirt its name.
Questions
Is the Red ring skirt dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; a fast, high-flying butterfly that never visits flowers.
When can you see the Red ring skirt?
The Red ring skirt can be seen from May to October, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Brush-footed butterflies›Hestina
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.