Red-spotted purple

Appearance

"Limenitis arthemis" is described to be beautiful and highly active. The butterfly species themselves can be divided into two major groups simply from one main characteristic, the white band on the upper wings. However, besides the look of the butterfly, "L. arthemis" are in constant motion. Their flights are short in duration and at low altitudes, flying only about 2 to 3 feet off the ground. When not in flight, "L. arthemis" are constantly walking over leaves and folding their wings. They enjoy the sun as many are found to be resting at the highest points on trees. During the short period they are at rest, "L. arthemis" keep their wings closed, body at a 45 degree angle upwards, and antennae straight forward.

Both sexes of this species are identical except that the females are slightly larger than the males. The upperside of "L. a. arthemis" is mostly blackish-blue with white postmedian bands across both wings. Some individuals have a row of red submarginal spots, while others have this area being blue. The underside of the wings is a blackish color with a broad white post-median band. The basal area of both wings contains many red spots. The submarginal area may contain a row of red spots and the marginal area having bluish spots. However, sometimes the submarginal and marginal areas are just a reddish-brown color.

The upperside of "L. a. astyanax" is very much like "L. a. arthemis" except it lacks the broad white bands. The forewing submarginal area will sometimes have a row of red spots. The hindwings are either a bright iridescent blue or an iridescent bluish-green. The underside of the wings lacks the white band. The basal area has several red spots. It has a row of red submarginal spots and bluish marginal spots.

Naming

* "Limenitis arthemis arthemis", the American white admiral, has the common appearance described in the description section of the white admiral.
⤷  "Limenitis arthmeis astyanax", the western American white admiral, has the common appearance of the red-spotted purple.
⤷  "Limenitis arthemis rubrofascitata" have a brick-red band along the margins of the ventral hindwing, and are mainly found west of Lake Superior.
⤷  "Limenitis arthemis arizonensis", the red-spotted purple or red-spotted admiral, have wings that appear similar to the "L. a. astyanax", but have pointier hindwings. This subspecies resides in the southwestern regions of the US."Limenitis" – an epithet of Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the wild) – "arthemis", from Artemis.

Distribution

"Limenitis arthemis" are vastly spread out throughout North America. "L a. arthemis" or the white admiral live on the far north side of the continent, ranging from New England and southern Great Lakes area all the way to various parts of Canada. "L. a. astyanax" are based further south from the New England and southern Great Lake boundary; the hybridization region is the overlapped region of New England and southern Great Lakes. These butterflies spend their days in deciduous woodlands, along the edges of the forest in shady areas, including roadsides.

Behavior

"L. arthemis" have two broods lasting from April to October. Most of the first brood feed and grow until the caterpillar is half-grown. Then they form a hibernaculum and hibernate for the winter until the start of spring. However, some larvae are able to mature during the summer, so they emerge as the second brood early fall. The second brood also mate and lay eggs, but often these larvae are not yet mature enough to undergo hibernation. Ultimately, this could mean death for the larvae.When males are searching for female mates, they tend to seek territories plentiful of the number of visits the females make to that specific area. Mate-locating behaviors for males tended to start in the afternoon, between 11 am and 4 pm. Most males perched as a sign of defense of the territory. Males tend not to favor perching on host trees, but rather on various of foliage like maple, elm trees, or raspberry bushes, generally about 1–2 meters off the ground. This particular mating behavior seems ironic because males should want to perch on host trees as females tend to seek mates in areas where resources like food or host trees are bountiful. Therefore, many times, males are defending areas that do not consist of the most females.Males tend to aggressively fight with each other during territorial fights. Fights last some 1 to 5 minutes.Once a female lands on a leaf, the male lands behind her quite shortly after. If the female does not want to copulate, she closes her dorsal wings.

Cultural

The white admiral is, since a poll in October 1998, the insect emblem of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the only sub-species of "Limenitis arthemis" present in Quebec.