4 RED-SPOTTED PURPLE, 2019 JULY 23, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, ALAN RYFF
For the most part, red-spotted purples tend to ignore flowers, but are readily attracted to mud, dung and carrion, as well as oozing sap and fermenting fruit. The moist earth underlying a stretch of sparse gravel attracted this red-spotted purple to Maggie’s driveway.
Though the red-spotted purple (arthemis) and the more northern white admiral (astyanax) differ radically in appearance, they are classified as one species within Limenitis, a genus belonging to the worldwide family of brush-footed butterflies, the Nymphalidae (6,000 plus species). Unique to brush-footed butterflies is their diminutive forelegs, so small that the butterfly appears to be four-legged. The forelegs lack claws and are covered with short brush-like hairs, giving a bottlebrush appearance, hence the name brush-footed butterflies. Michigan’s other Limenitis is the viceroy (archippus), the famed mimic of the monarch. In addition, western North America has two species of Limenitis: Weidemeyer’s admiral and Lorquin’s admiral.
The life cycle of the red-spotted purple (arthemis) spans from May through October. Depending on latitude and local climate, there is one generation in the northern part of its range, two generations in the mid-part, and three in the southernmost part. The egg takes about a week to hatch. The caterpillar stage lasts about two weeks and consists of five instars. Starting in the second instar, the caterpillar's appearance is that of a bird dropping. Its pinkish-white saddle patch assesses the length of daylight, thereby giving the caterpillar its day-to-day position within the summer cycle. This determines whether the third-instar caterpillar is to make a hibernaculum in which to spend the coming winter or to continue to the fifth instar after which it pupates for about two weeks, then emerges as a butterfly having a flight span of two weeks to a month.
4 RED-SPOTTED PURPLE, 2019 JULY 23, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, ALAN RYFF
For the most part, red-spotted purples tend to ignore flowers, but are readily attracted to mud, dung and carrion, as well as oozing sap and fermenting fruit. The moist earth underlying a stretch of sparse gravel attracted this red-spotted purple to Maggie’s driveway.
Though the red-spotted purple (arthemis) and the more northern white admiral (astyanax) differ radically in appearance, they are classified as one species within Limenitis, a genus belonging to the worldwide family of brush-footed butterflies, the Nymphalidae (6,000 plus species). Unique to brush-footed butterflies is their diminutive forelegs, so small that the butterfly appears to be four-legged. The forelegs lack claws and are covered with short brush-like hairs, giving a bottlebrush appearance, hence the name brush-footed butterflies. Michigan’s other Limenitis is the viceroy (archippus), the famed mimic of the monarch. In addition, western North America has two species of Limenitis: Weidemeyer’s admiral and Lorquin’s admiral.
The life cycle of the red-spotted purple (arthemis) spans from May through October. Depending on latitude and local climate, there is one generation in the northern part of its range, two generations in the mid-part, and three in the southernmost part. The egg takes about a week to hatch. The caterpillar stage lasts about two weeks and consists of five instars. Starting in the second instar, the caterpillar's appearance is that of a bird dropping. Its pinkish-white saddle patch assesses the length of daylight, thereby giving the caterpillar its day-to-day position within the summer cycle. This determines whether the third-instar caterpillar is to make a hibernaculum in which to spend the coming winter or to continue to the fifth instar after which it pupates for about two weeks, then emerges as a butterfly having a flight span of two weeks to a month.