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The Milbert's Tortoise Shell inner dark area is a rich brown colour with 2 red-orange patches along forewing. Its wide orange submarginal band fades to a yellow at the inner edge of this band. There is a narrow black border on both wings and some blue spots on the hind wing border. It has a wingspan of about 4.2 – 5.1 cm.
There are two broods from May-October. The female lays pale green eggs in large batches of up to several hundred on the underside of Stinging Nettles leaves. The caterpillar is black above with white spots, yellow sides and short spines. The caterpillars of this species feed in groups when young and can severely defoliate trees and other plants if left unchecked. Mature caterpillar are black with narrow yellow band above and green side stripes, white speckled with rows of short spines.
Milbert's Tortoiseshell is fairly common and their numbers, from year to year,does not fluctuate very much. You can find them in wet fields near woodlands and moist pastures or marshes. The adult drinks the nectar of flowers, such as Goldenrods, Lilacs and Thistles. They sometimes feed on animal dung, sap and rotting fruit.
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MILBERT'S TORTOISE SHELL
Nymphalis milberti
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