Admiral butterflies - the three kinds I have photographed so far

Left:  White admiral.  Center:  Red admiral  Right:  Lorquin's admiral  See text for numbers.

Every admiral butterfly I have ever seen makes me stop and take notice.  They are relatively large, stark, and handsome.  I had a chance to photograph two different species last week and am including a third I photographed a while ago to complete the set.

The red admiral (center) is the easiest to tell apart from the other two.  It has broad red bands (1) instead of the broad white bands the other species have.  The second indicator is on the topside of the 1st wing (2).  White admirals have a black tip while Lorquin's admirals have a red tip.  Red admirals have a black with white spots tip.

The caterpillars of all three species have very different diets.  Red admiral caterpillars eat the leaves of nettles and relatives.  if you've ever brushed against a nettle, you would know that is a significant feat.  White admiral caterpillars eat the leaves of willow, birch, and poplar trees.  Lorquin's admiral larvae eat the leaves of cherry, cottonwood, and willow trees but will also take other fruit trees like plum and apple.  They will also eat poplar leaves.  

The larvae of all three look very different, although I have never photographed or even seen them.  If you are curious, you can do an image search to see for yourself.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harjit Bahia - Science teacher and colleague from Garibaldi died August 2, 2024

Image
You will be missed Mr. Bahia.  You made a difference and we are sad you are gone. I keep in loose contact with my fellow retired teachers from Garibaldi Secondary School.  I talked with my long-time friend, Mike Lynch, today, and discovered that Hargit died over the summer.  Unbeknownst to him, he had an underlying heart condition and passed away after working out on his treadmill.  The date was August 2, 2024. I was shocked to hear this.  He was only 49 years old, turning 50 some 3 months later.  It was a shock to everyone, for he was loved by all who knew him.  As a teacher, Mr. Bahia was kind and fun.  He contributed to students in many ways and was always available to help those in need.   For myself, I knew him as a fellow science teacher and taught in the adjoining room to him.  He was always available to help, share ideas, and work together.  Easy to approach, I found that I could talk to him about anything and appreciat...
Read more

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

Mountain Bluebird - out of the blue.

Image
Mountain Bluebird photographed near Princeton, BC. While camping at a resort near Princeton, BC, I had a chance to visit a wildlife refuge that was nearby.  There are about 5 km of trails there and it took me two days to cover them all.  That may sound like an unreasonably slow rate of progression, but I took several hundred images during my time there and did a fair amount of step retracing.  The end result was the opportunity to get some great hiking in and see three bird species I have never encountered before. On the first day, I saw and photographed a pygmy nuthatch.  I have seen the white-breasted and red-breasted varieties but never this species.  The second day caught me completely off guard, as within the span of 30 seconds I saw the other two, a Bullock's oriole and a mountain bluebird.  It was a stunning discovery, for me anyway, and I can still feel the thrill of the moment thinking back on it.  Many of you may think this a bit odd, t...
Read more