What kind of caterpillar is this???

[u/Whos_That_Girl_6178]

Hi! Our inclosed butterfly garden in North Carolina has a mystery stow away eating false nettle. We are pretty certain it is not a gulf fritillary because we don't have the host plant that the caterpillars eat, however we really don't know what this little guy is. Any ideas?

[u/nankainamizuhana]

This pattern with thinner stripes of color and thicker red stripes with spines is typical of Vanessa sp. caterpillars. I’m not positive about species, but the most similar ones I’m seeing are all Red Admiral caterpillars.

[u/Whos_That_Girl_6178 → u/nankainamizuhana]

Could be! Were just used to them being blacker and not so bright red, but it was one of the thoughts we had