Interactive Butterfly CD
Butterflies of the
Carolinas & Virginias

Red-spotted Purple,
Limenitis arthemis astyanax

NABA now calls it
Red-spotted Admiral

Size: Wingspan is 2 1/2 to 3 3/4 inches.

Similar Species:
Pipevine Swallowtail
See the Arizona Red-spotted Admiral subspecies.

Habitat: Hardwood forest borders, clearing, wooded yards and gardens.

Abundance: Common and widespread.

Flight Period: Flies from mid April until late October in at least two broods.

Comments:
This species perches on gravel roads and are found dead a lot along roads as well. They also like tree sap and rotten fruit. Usually when they are flying, I put out melon rinds for them. Once I put out half of a rotten papaya and it brought in 22 of them one evening!

The top photo was taken in Richmond Co., NC in the Sandhills Gamelands on April 22, 2003. The second and third photos were taken in Montgomery Co., VA on June 13, 2005. The bottom photo was taken in Durham Co., NC on September 09, 2003.

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The top and below photo were part of a
single photo see these two together.
The below photo might be the rare "green form", of the 100+ RSPs I saw that day this puddle party of 13 had two "green forms"