FLUTTERBYS

Admiral Elation

Jay Davis

September 15, 2023 info

After encountering a Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) butterfly recently, and realizing its close association with the White Admiral butterfly, I remembered that I photographed a White Admiral look-alike in Utah with Carrie this Summer. Here are the photos:

Weidemeyer’s Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii), dorsal view, La Sal Mountain Loop Road near Moab, UT, July 2023.
Weidemeyer’s Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii) ventral view, La Sal Mountain Loop Road near Moab, UT, July 2023.

iNaturalist identified this as a Weidemeyer’s Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii), not a White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis).

For comparison, I downloaded this photo of a White Admiral from Wikipedia:

White Admiral by dlanglois, Wikipedia, photographed July 2004, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada

The three photos side-by-side for comparison:

Weidemeyer’s
Weidemeyer’s
White (Wikipedia)

I do note some differences, most notably less color on Weidemeyer’s, and also a more rounded tail. However, I wonder if these differences might be a difference in male vs. female. For now, without studying the differences in more detail, I will just say that these butterflies are very similar. I also wonder if the only difference is the range.