White Admiral Butterfly
12 July
This is a beautiful and at the same time morphologically confusing species of mid-summer butterfly - here seen nectaring on flowers of Joe Pye Weed. It is considered by some to be the unofficial insect emblem of Quebec. The one here is the White Admiral subspecies - Limenitis arthemis arthemis.
Limenitis arthemis, the red-spotted or white admiral, has been studied for its evolution of mimicry, and for the several stable hybrid wing patterns within this nominal species; it is one of the most dramatic examples of hybridization between non-mimetic and mimetic populations. It can be split into two major groups, mainly based on one physical characteristic: the presence of a white band along the wings. Individuals of the northern group, commonly called white admirals, have a conspicuous white band that traverses both the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the wing, while those of the southern group, called red-spotted purples, lack that trait as they have evolved to mimic the poisonous pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor). Due to overlap in distribution among the two major groups, intermediates are numerous as hybridization occurs frequently.
And this is a specimen of the same species from the southern group (not my photo) - the one commonly named the Red-spotted …
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We have quite a few yellow swallowtails now. They don't sit still long enough to have their pictures taken. I'm impressed with your photos.
I appreciate the information about White Admirals, et al. So interesting! Truly.
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