LIMENITIS ARTHEMIS ASTYANAX:
THE RED-SPOTTED PURPLE

Photo courtesy of THE BUTTERFLY ZONE
The Red-spotted purple
(3.1-3.4") ranges from southern Canada throughout the eastern two-thirds
of the United States down into Mexico. It is absent west of the
Rockies.
Although I have never seen an adult of this species on Prince
Edward Island, they are quite common in New Jersey. I don't remember
seeing purples nectaring at flowers,
but the adults frequently visit mud puddles.
Photo courtesy of Mark Lasko.
| Larvae emerge from tiny eggs laid singly on
foodplants (wild cherry), and adults fly in mid summer.
It is interesting to me, primarily a moth
breeder,
that these tiny larvae overwinter in a cocoon like hibernaculum
which usually remains affixed to the tree all winter. |
Photo courtesy of Mark Lasko. |
 | 
With their
white abdominal saddles, green or brown larvae mimic bird droppings
in later instars.
In southern portions of their range there are three generations while in more northern latitudes
there are two generations/year. Chrysalids are attached to branches and hang
vertically, anterior side down. Besides cherry, larvae also feed on elms, oaks, poplars, and
willows. |
Photos courtesy of John H. Campbell.
GO TO:
|
Monarch
Viceroy
White admiral
Mourning cloak
Milbert's tortoise shell
Black swallowtail
Canadian Tiger swallowtail
Cabbage white
Question mark
Satyr comma
Red admiral
Painted lady
American painted lady
|
| Google is one of my favourite Search Engines and seems to offer the most
extensive listing of butterfly sites. Use your back arrow to return to this site after using the
Google search box to the left. |
To use Google most effectively, type in either the complete Latin name for the butterfly or
the complete common name followed by the word butterfly. If I wanted additional information
about the red admiral, I would type in "Vanessa atalanta" or "red admiral butterfly" and then
click on the Google Go button to the left.
Here are some additonal northeastern North American butterflies of interest.
To my knowledge, these species do not fly on Prince Edward Island, but I have reared
most of them as a boy growing up in rural New Jersey.
|
Pipevine swallowtail
Buckeye
Red-spotted purple
Giant swallowtail
Eastern Tiger swallowtail
Spicebush swallowtail
|
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