Red Admiral
Red Admiral is the only butterfly in the whole of Europe that is full-on red. We have a few red moths such as Burnets and Cinnabar, but in non-tropical butterflies it is a rare colour. In France it is known as Le Vulcain, after Vulcan, blacksmith of the gods, with the dark forge, fire and splashes of blue-white hot iron. It has always been a butterfly of unpredictable numbers as it migrates from further south and builds up its numbers over each summer. Nabokov (author of Lolita and a great butterfly enthusiast) recalled how vast numbers appeared across the Russian steppes up to the Arctic Circle in 1881, the year that Tsar Alexander II was assassinated which threw the state into disarray. The butterfly was thought as a messenger of death when people noticed a rather shaky figure of eight with a one below (these are the blue bits on the hindwings, clearer in some individuals than others) so has 1881 at the bottom of its wings.
The scientific name Vanessa atalanta sounds like it is steeped in classical mythology, but this is only partly true. Atalanta was the beautiful and swift huntress who challenged suitors to a race and killed them if they lost. She was eventually beaten by Milanion who threw golden apples in front of her during the race and Atalanta could not resist stopping to gather them. The name Vanessa was given by Fabricius in 1807 after a title character in Jonathan Swift's poem; Cadenus and Vanessa. Nothing to do with classical mythology. Vanessa was Swift's pet name for his adored pupil Esther Vanhomrigh, based of the reversed syllables of her name. Vanessa died prematurely and Swift then published his poem Cadenus and Vanessa, which was written during the course of their romance. Cadenus was Swift, which is an anagram of Decanus (=Dean), as Swift was Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. There is a line in the poem "Vanessa in her bloom advanced like Atalanta's star" so it is likely that Johan Fabricius had read this poem when he linked his newly costructed genus Vanessa with Linnaeus's name atalanta.
Red Admiral
Red Admiral is the only butterfly in the whole of Europe that is full-on red. We have a few red moths such as Burnets and Cinnabar, but in non-tropical butterflies it is a rare colour. In France it is known as Le Vulcain, after Vulcan, blacksmith of the gods, with the dark forge, fire and splashes of blue-white hot iron. It has always been a butterfly of unpredictable numbers as it migrates from further south and builds up its numbers over each summer. Nabokov (author of Lolita and a great butterfly enthusiast) recalled how vast numbers appeared across the Russian steppes up to the Arctic Circle in 1881, the year that Tsar Alexander II was assassinated which threw the state into disarray. The butterfly was thought as a messenger of death when people noticed a rather shaky figure of eight with a one below (these are the blue bits on the hindwings, clearer in some individuals than others) so has 1881 at the bottom of its wings.
The scientific name Vanessa atalanta sounds like it is steeped in classical mythology, but this is only partly true. Atalanta was the beautiful and swift huntress who challenged suitors to a race and killed them if they lost. She was eventually beaten by Milanion who threw golden apples in front of her during the race and Atalanta could not resist stopping to gather them. The name Vanessa was given by Fabricius in 1807 after a title character in Jonathan Swift's poem; Cadenus and Vanessa. Nothing to do with classical mythology. Vanessa was Swift's pet name for his adored pupil Esther Vanhomrigh, based of the reversed syllables of her name. Vanessa died prematurely and Swift then published his poem Cadenus and Vanessa, which was written during the course of their romance. Cadenus was Swift, which is an anagram of Decanus (=Dean), as Swift was Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. There is a line in the poem "Vanessa in her bloom advanced like Atalanta's star" so it is likely that Johan Fabricius had read this poem when he linked his newly costructed genus Vanessa with Linnaeus's name atalanta.