Red-spotted Purple
Jay Davis
September 5, 2023
I came upon this cooperative butterfly on the Roswell Riverwalk today. I thought it was a Diana Fritillary and immediately sent a photo to Franca. It is just over a year since the Diana Saga, where myself, Franca and Charlie had incredible views of Dianas along Cooper Creek in North Georgia.
Alas, I came home and got out my Kaufman Butterfly Guide and quickly determined that it is a Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). Apparently this is closely related to the White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis), which only occurs along the Northern border of the US and into Canada. In more southerly climes the Red-spotted Purple takes the place of the White Admiral.
In any case, I am excited to figure this out and add another butterfly ID to the small collection of butterflies that I can identify.
This one looks pretty rough, it being the end of the Summer. Note the vestiges of the orange spots on the upper top (dorsal) wing, outer edge. Those are the “red spots” – along with the spots on the bottom (ventral) side. The other obvious difference between this and the Diana Fritillary is that there is much more blue on the top portion of the wing when compared to the Diana. Other pictures show a purple color above the blue that is not apparent in my photos. I suspect this is either normal variation or the fact that this specimen is very worn.
For comparison:
