Lorquin’s Admiral is a black butterfly with a bold white band across both wings and orange-brown wingtips, often seen gliding along willow-lined creeks and forest edges. Males are very territorial. Each picks a favorite perch, often in a valley bottom or along a stream, and watches all day for females, chasing off other butterflies and sometimes even dragonflies and birds that wander through.
The caterpillars feed on the leaves of willows, cottonwood and poplar, and wild cherry. Females lay eggs on the upper side of leaf tips. Partly grown caterpillars spend the winter rolled up inside a leaf shelter. In the northern part of the range there is probably just one generation a year, with adults flying from spring into early fall.
Adults sip flower nectar but also visit bird droppings and dung. The species is named for Pierre Lorquin, a French collector who gathered butterflies and beetles in California during the Gold Rush.
Its pattern closely resembles the California Sister, whose caterpillars feed on oak leaves, which may make the adults distasteful to predators. Some naturalists think the admiral gains protection by looking like it.
How to identify it
Wingspan about 2 to 2.6 inches. The upperside is black with a white band across both wings and an orange-brown patch at each forewing tip. The underside is reddish brown with white markings.
Look-alikes
The California Sister has a similar black and white pattern, but its orange forewing patch is larger and sharp-edged, while Lorquin's Admiral's orange tip is smaller and fades into the black.
Habitat
Streamsides, forest edges, mountain canyons and groves of willow, cottonwood and poplar, as well as orchards and parks.
Sightings in the forest
216 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on August 29, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →