Red Admiral

Spring is a beautiful time in California's Great Central Valley - the grass is green, the wildflowers are in bloom, the wetlands and woodlands are teeming with new life.  But the season is all too short!  Soon, very soon, the heat will descend and the mercury will remain high until October or so.  In other words, get outside now, while the weather is pleasant!  May is an excellent time to catch the songbird migration through the Valley: flycatchers, vireos, warblers are particularly abundant during this season.

 

But even if you miss the small, flighty songbirds this spring, there is another type of winged wonder to capture the attention of the naturalist: butterflies! 

 

Red Admiral on Brassica flowers, San Joaquin River NWR

 

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a familiar butterfly across North America.  It's colorful wings, which span nearly three inches, make it distinct enough to be accurately identified by beginning lepidopterologists (entomologists who specialize in the study of lepidopterans - butterflies and moths) - such as myself!

 

Red Admirals are members of the Brushfoot family of butterflies (Nymphalidae).  The Brush-footed butterflies make up the world's largest butterfly family, and include such beloved species as the Monarch, as well as our friends the California Sister (which shares a similar color scheme with the Red Admiral), Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, commas, and tortoiseshells.

 

These widespread butterflies seem to owe their success at least in part to their ability to adapt to a wide variety of habitats, from forests and riparian areas to gardens and city parks.  Host plants (on which females lay eggs and caterpillars feed) include those in the nettle family (Urticaceae). 

Adults feed on fermenting fruit, tree sap and bird droppings (which is actually quite a common butterfly behavior  known as "mud puddling," whereby butterflies obtain salts and amino acids from unorthodox sources such as dung, carrion and mud).  When these food sources are unavailable, the Red Admiral will dine on more "typical" butterfly fare, the nectar of flowers like milkweed, clover, aster, and, in this case, Brassicas.

I can't encourage you enough to get outside this spring and see for yourself what natural wonders are in store beyond the bustle of city life and the transfixing power of screens.  It seems like almost every time I go out during the warmer months, I discover another new butterfly to add to my life list of lepidopterans!  So you see, I'm still learning, and always will be!