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Red Spotted Purple

Blue and brown butterfly
Location:  Amana, Iowa
September 7, 2010 4:11 pm
Please let us know what this butterfly is called. I took the photo 9/5/2010 in Amana, Iowa. It was eating squashed and rotting pears on the sidewalk.
I didn’t see anything just like it in your search feature,
Thank you!
Signature:  Diane

red spotted purple diane 2 300x216 Red Spotted Purple

Red Spotted Purple

Hi Diane,
Perhaps you did not connect your Red Spotted Purple to the numerous individuals in our archives because your specimen is showing its age.  The vibrant colors of a freshly metamorphosed specimen cannot compare to the faded beauty that your example illustrates.

Thanks for the reply–and so quickly, too!
We did see the Red Spotted Purple, but dismissed it.  Didn’t realize that butterflies fade, but it does make sense!
Diane

Posted 07 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Admirable

New Red “Admirable” Pics.
Location:  SE Michigan
September 7, 2010 10:25 am
Dear Bugman: As per your recent mention of not receiving any new photos of Red ”Admirables” lately, I am submitting these two, to fill the void. Both of these Red Admirals were shot in SE Michigan. The under-wing closeup was taken in my backyard, on a Buddleia bush. The other was shot in a field at an area Metro Park, along Lake Erie. The colors and iridescence on the close-up butterfly were spectacular, making me wonder if it was very recently emerged. Not a single wing scale was out of place and it was very calm and content, allowing me to take many super close-ups.
Signature:  Christine

red admiral christine 300x206 Red Admirable

Red Admiral

Hi Christine,
Though we don’t expect to convince the world to begin calling this cheerful butterfly a Red Admirable instead of the accepted Red Admiral, we cannot help but to be amused by Vladimir Nabokov’s wry sense of humor and his play on words when he coined the alternative name.  Thank you so much for correcting the void in our archives due to the ongoing dearth of recent images of Vanessa atalanta.

red admiral christine 2 274x300 Red Admirable

Red Admiral

Posted 07 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Tourism Billboard: What’s Wrong with this Picture???

viceroy mexico billboard 300x206 Tourism Billboard: Whats Wrong with this Picture???

Imposter on a Poster

Monarch Mimic Scores Billboard
September 5, 2010

viceroy amy 300x219 Tourism Billboard: Whats Wrong with this Picture???

Amy's Viceroy

It is a Viceroy Butterfly, not the Monarch in the Mexico tourism billboard.  This billboard is at San Fernando Road and Cazador.  It would be an excellent Saddlesore background for a quick shot of Lisa Anne Auerbach scheduled for 8 AM tomorrow.  Seems this excellent mimic can even fool people.  If butterflies have to adapt to anything these days, it is to people, collectors and tourists alike.  That could be a graduate thesis topic for me should I ever decide to become a doctor.

Posted 05 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies § _Featured ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Admirable: Vladimir Nabokov’s favorite butterfly!!!

ALERT:  We just found the most beautiful butterfly collection on the planet.
September 5, 3:50 PM.
Nabokov’s Butterfly Collection.  It includes his favorite butterfly, The Red Admirable.

red admiral kris Red Admirable: Vladimir Nabokovs favorite butterfly!!!
Red Admirable from the Archives

Posted 05 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Common Buckeye and Silver Spotted Skippers share an Inflorescence

butterflies
Location:  maryland
September 5, 2010 4:23 pm
I have different (hundreds) of baby and adult butterflies outside. Can you tell me what types these are?
Signature:  Butterflies

buckeye and skippers 300x191 Common Buckeye and Silver Spotted Skippers share an Inflorescence

Common Buckeye and Two Silver Spotted Skippers

Dear Butterflies,
All of your photos are lovely, but we have just recently posted photos of Red Spotted Purples and Tiger Swallowtails.  We really like your photo of a Common Buckeye and Two Silver Spotted Skippers (See BugGuide) sharing a sedum inflorescence.  Thanks for sending your photos.  Buckeyes along with Red Admirals, Red Spotted Purples, Fritillaries, Morning Cloaks and the other Anglewings are among our favorite North American Brush Footed Butterfly species.  Vladimir Nabokov called the Red Admirals Red Amirables, and they are also known as the Butterfly of Doom in Russia because of a swarm during the year of some 19th Century Czar (Tsar).  We would love a new photo of a Red Admirable.  We just noticed no one has ever responded to our Who’s On Top? query.  Look at it this way, there is a 50/50 chance you will be right.  Just make up the answer and let us prove you wrong.

ALERT:  We just found the most beautiful butterfly collection on the planet.
September 5, 3:50 PM.
Nabokov’s Butterfly Collection.  It includes his favorite butterfly, The Red Admirable.

red admiral kris Common Buckeye and Silver Spotted Skippers share an Inflorescence

Red Admirable from the Archives

Posted 05 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies § Skippers ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Spotted Purple

Butterfly ID, please
Location:  Alleghany county NC
September 3, 2010 12:57 pm
Greetings! I took this picture the end of August 2010 near a river in a wild, wooded, mountainous section of Alleghany county NC. I can’t seem to find another image like it and wondered what it was. Love your site, take care.
Signature:  Linda

red spotted purple linda 300x212 Red Spotted Purple

Red Spotted Purple

Hi Linda,
Your beautiful butterfly is a Red Spotted Purple.

Posted 03 September 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Red Spotted Purple

Swallowtail?
Location:  Cincinnati, OH
August 29, 2010 5:55 pm
Hello!
My daughter Gwen and I have been trying to identify this beautiful butterfly we found in a friend’s yard. We thought it might be a Spicebush Swallowtail, but they look a little different on your site. This one had the washed-out blue on the bottom and a coppery colored wash on the top. I snapped the pic with my iphone, and wish i could have gotten a better one before it flew off. What do you guys think?
Thanks for your help :-)
the Franke family again

red spotted purple franke 292x300 Red Spotted Purple

Red Spotted Purple

Dear Franke family,
We are impressed that you noticed the similarities between your Red Spotted Purple and the Pipevine Swallowtail because it is believed the Red Spotted Purple mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail because the swallowtail does not taste good to predators.

Posted 29 August 2010 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Swallowtail

Our first sighting of the Great Swallowtail, I think
Location:  Clearwater, Florida
August 25, 2010 6:39 pm
This butterfly visited our papaya flowers last week and posed so beautifully, I had to take its photo. At first I thought it was a Schaus butterfly but the book I looked into said no.
Linda from Organic Living

giant swallowtail linda 300x236 Giant Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

Hi Linda,
You have photographed the largest butterfly in North America, the Giant Swallowtail, Papolio cresphontes, which you may learn about on BugGuide.  To get a better idea of the subtly beautiful markings on the Giant Swallowtail’s wings, see this BugGuide image.

Posted 25 August 2010 § swallowtails ‡ Comments (0) °

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