Red Admiral Nuptial Flight?!?

[svenrufus]

Hi there
I'm a bit uncertain about what I have just seen.

South Coast at midday, sunny, about 10C, urban setting. Two Red Admirals doing what looked for all the world like a Nuptial flight. Brief view, but fairly high flight (10-15ft above the ground), reasonably fast and direct, one above and slightly behind the other, darting around it to the sides and back again.

I know RA's usually arrive mated, but they don't usually arrive by now at all. I would normally assume that any RA's seen at this time of the year have overwintered and been roused by warm conditions, but you just can't be sure any more. Not seen two together at this time of year, and never seen this ehaviour at all.

I can't find any info on it, so can someone tell me what the mating behaviour for RA's is? Has anyone else seen this sort of thing before? Were they more likely to be new arrivals or overwinterers? Is it more likely that these were two in some sort of dispute?

Cheers for any help.
Sven

[Jason Green]

Wow! 28mths old... sorry, I've just been researching this and came up with it on Google.

So... two RAs on the wing in the South at the end of January. I can't say for sure, but to me it sounds like one male awoke from hibernation and chose the area you describe as his territory. A second male woke up and attempted to take it - also having emerged - and the first male tried to drive him off.

I think it's too early for it to be a mating dance, though I'm not sure what any process would consist of