Red spotted Purple Butterfly

Facts of Red Spotted Purple Butterflies, "Scientific name for Red spotted Purple Butterfly is Limenitis arthemis"

Habitat and geographical distribution

The Red spotted Purple butterfly is a species of the North American brush-footed butterfly which is commonly found in the Eastern United States. The major areas where they are found include, Florida westwards to eastern Texas and northward towards Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Description and Physical characteristics

The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has red spots on the underside while the top of their wings have iridescent markings of blue. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly are mainly found in open woodlands and along forest edges. The Red-spotted purple butterflies are swallowtail. Mainly found in or near woods, parks and suburban neighborhoods. The adult Red Spotted Purple butterflies can be seen on shrubs and trees slowly opening and closing their wings. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly is a species of the white Admiral butterfly. The main difference between the two is that white admirals have prominent white bands and commonly found far north of Missouri. The pipevine swallowtail is toxic to the predators. This butterfly’s color pattern sets to mimic the toxic species of the surrounding pipevine.

The Red Spotted Purple male Butterfly and female are mainly identical only that the females are relatively larger than the males. The upper side of the Red Spotted Purple Butterfly is blackish-blue. Sometimes, the fore-wing sub marginal areas have a row of red spots.The Red spotted Purple Butterfly hind wings are mostly varying colors, either having bright iridescent blue or an iridescent bluish-green color. On the base of the wings, there are some red spots with red sub marginal spots and bluish marginal spots on them.

The underside of the wings of the Red spotted Purple Butterfly is brownish black characterized by iridescent blue areas and with relatively large orange basal spots. Near the margins, the wings have a row of bright orange spots and two rows of iridescent blue dashes curved on the margins. On both wings, the undersides of the Red spotted Purple Butterfly have a row of curved marginal white dashes. Adults are generally thought to be pipevine swallowtail mimics, which makes them a little bit difficult to separate them from dark swallowtails.

Red Spotted Purple Butterfly are insects. A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly is a herbivore; Meaning that as a caterpillar its first food is its own eggshell and than it will eat the leaves of the plant on which it is hatched. When it becomes a butterfly, it will feed mostly on nectar from flowers, rotting fruit and water with a "proboscis" - a long narrow tube in their mouth that looks like a straw.

Reproduction

The Red spotted Purple Butterfly is known to fly from May through October. Caterpillars who are partially grown hibernate through the winter period in rolled leaf spun into a tube and attached to the twig with silk. During this period, the caterpillar’s breathing rate slows down, thickens blood and water percentage in the body drops from 80 to a considerable 55 percent in order to avoid freezing. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly singly lay their eggs on the host plant. Female Red Spotted Purple Butterfly prefer to lay eggs along cherry tips or willow leaves around water course or along gas or power lines near the edges of forests.

The first instar caterpillar feeds on the veins of the leaf while creating a perch. The second instar caterpillar sows a visible white saddle that is responsible for measuring the length of the days assessing whether hibernation is required. This decides whether the caterpillar should go to the third instar or proceed with adulthood.

To avoid being fed upon, the larvae resemble bird droppings. Their thorax is humped and covered numerously by tubercles. A longer pair is found in the thorax. The larva’s body color is mottled shades of brown, white, green and brownish yellow. The larva feed on forage of a variety of deciduous trees and shrubs. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly adults only absorb moisture and nutrients from puddles, damp ground, animal droppings and decaying fruits.

Red Spotted Purple Butterfly can see yellow, green, and red. An adult butterfly average life span is from a week to a year
The top flight speed of a Red Spotted Purple Butterfly is 12 miles per hour and some moths can fly up to 25 miles per hour.
A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly is cold-blooded, which means the body temperature is not regulated on its own. A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly can't fly or eat if their body temperature is below 82 degrees fah (28 cel). Red Spotted Purple Butterfly's are often basking in the sun with their wings open to gain heat and than the veins in the wings carry the heat to the body.

Life cycle of a butterfly comes in four stages, egg, larva "caterpillars", pupa "chrysalis" and adult Butterfly.
A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly will attach its eggs to leaves with a special glue.

When Red Spotted Purple caterpillars become fully grown they will attach to an appropriate leaf or small branch, than they will shed the outside layer of their skin and a hard skin underneath known as a "chrysalis" will be their new look
An adult Red Spotted Purple Butterfly will come out from the "chrysalis" than it waits a few hours for its wings to dry and fill with blood, before it takes its first flight.
A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has sense organ, on their feet or tarsi, for tasting
The estimate is between 15000 and 20000 different species of butterfly.

A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has a small body, made up of three parts – the head, abdomen and thorax. A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has two large eyes, which are made up of many small parts which are called "compound eyes".
A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has two antenna's on the top of their heads, which they use to smell, hear and feel. A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly’s mouth is a long tube a "proboscis" - a long narrow tube in their mouth that looks like a straw when its done eating, it rolls the tube back up.

A Red Spotted Purple Butterfly has three pairs of legs and their feet have little claws that help them stand on flowers. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly's wings are made up of hard tubes that are covered with a thin tissue. The Red Spotted Purple Butterfly's wings are covered with fine dusty like scales. A Butterfly has four brightly colored wings having distinctive patterns made up of tiny scales. The bright patterns scales sometimes have hidden ultraviolet patterns for attracting mates. The bright colors are also used as camouflage to hide them or scare off predictors.