Red admiral butterflies fly in a highly irregular fashion, constantly varying their speed, wing strokes, and flight path  While predators avoid poisonous butterfly species, nonpoisonous butterflies like the red admiral need to elude predators to survive
Scientists ttherefore hypothesize that the red admiral' s flight style, which is clearly not energy efficient, evolved as a means of avoiding predators
It is much more energy efficient for butterflies to fly in an irregular fashion than it is for heavier varieties of insects.