''Vanessa abyssinica'', the Abyssinian admiral, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

. It is found in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, Rwanda and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Nymphalini
/ref> The habitat consists of montane forests. The larvae feed on '' Urtica massaica'' and '' Obetia pinnatifida''. This species was traditionally considered to be a member of the genus ''

Antanartia ''Antanartia'', commonly called (African) admirals, is a genus in the family Nymphalidae found in southern Africa. They live along forest edges and are strongly attracted to rotting fruit and plant juices. For other admirals see genus, '' Vanessa ...

'' but was recently found to be a member of the '' V. atalanta'' species group.

Subspecies

*''Vanessa abyssinica abyssinica'' — Ethiopia *''Vanessa abyssinica jacksoni'' Howarth, 1966 — highlands of Kenya, northern Tanzania *''Vanessa abyssinica vansomereni'' Howarth, 1966 — western Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo: east to Kivu and Ituri

References

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 52
Butterflies described in 1867 abyssinica Taxa named by Baron Cajetan von Felder Taxa named by Rudolf Felder Butterflies of Africa {{Nymphalinae-stub