Red Name, Pt. 3 - _TNY_0645

Here's another interesting name. This is a red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) which decided to land close to me on the side of a very small forest road outside Härnösand, Sweden.

 

So why is it an "admiral"? There is no markings which can be associated with the naval commander and nothing else connecting it to naval warfare.

 

The answer is that the name is a bastardisation of an old name - the "red admirable". It has admirable beauty (and the dorsal side is the one with the red colour not particularily showing here), but at some point, someone mistook it for "admiral" and it caught on.

 

The French name is also cool. There it is known as "le vulcain", meaning "the vulcan" which I assume is because of the (volcanic) red colour.

 

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52628436232/

 

Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53000270596/

 

For an extremely high-resolution, closer shot of the same guy, have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52329263566/

Done