May 22nd, 2007
in a patch of sunlight
Here at the farm, there’s a small open area in a section of the poplar woods. The sunshine washes over the vegetation for most of the daylight hours. Any time that I want to find butterflies, that’s the place to go. Yesterday, as I walked the section of trail passing through this open area, two Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) were whirling through the air, playing tag, and occasionally landing for a moment before resuming the chase. I managed to snap a few photos by waiting patiently beside one of the spots where they repeatedly perched (click on image for larger view).
Also seen in a patch of sunlight was this Virginia Ctenucha caterpillar (Ctenucha virginica) moving along the trail. As you may remember, back on May 1st, I posted photos of one of these caterpillars in the process of molting. As you can see from the photo below, the caterpillar looks considerably different now. Not only is it larger, but it has lost its black markings, and is now just the yellow with white head and tail that was the background colour during its younger days. We’ve had quite a bit of cool, damp weather between May 1st and now, so I suspect most of the caterpillars I saw earlier in May, have been curled up somewhere and not doing a lot of eating until the past few days. Under optimum conditions, I expect they could pass through several instars (larval stages between molts) quite rapidly before reaching the final stage ready to cocoon.
Tags: Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, Virginia Ctenucha, Ctenucha virginica
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:28 am
I think I’ve been seeing Red Admirals here too. They move quickly, and usually I just have them in focus when they take off again. I checked the link to your molting caterpillar post. Wow! How did I miss that the first time? What amazing changes these little creatures go through. Now, I really want to see what it finally becomes.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:45 am
“Instars”. I love it. A new word with many metaphorical possibilities. The components: ‘in’ and ‘star’ – very rich words.
I’d never noticed those tiny black-outlined white smudges (yep – very scientific word) at the inside base of the lower wing. I’ll be looking for those out in the field now. I love my binoculars’ close focus feature. Now if those lovelies would just sit-pretty for a few seconds.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I haven’t yet seen any Red Admirals yet this year, but I know that I will eventually. I’ve never succeeded in getting a good photo of one, as they tend to be flighty, but you have proven that it is possible!
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:14 am
robin – Red Admirals have very flighty behaviour, so that may well be what you’re seeing. The only other similarly marked butterfly that I can think of that you would probably see in your range is the Milbert’s Tortoiseshell. They’re also very erratic and can be difficult to photograph. Isn’t that molting caterpillar something else? I find it amazing to see the different life stages of the larvae and then see what they eventually become as adults. Stuff like that blows me away.
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Cathy – I like the word “instar” as well – probably for much the same reason. Butterflies are great fun to watch and those binoculars must be excellent for seeing fieldmarks. You’re right though — the problem is to get these butterflies to stay still a little longer. I find that time of day and weather conditions have a lot to do with butterfly behaviour. Warm, sunny afternoons are about the worst for trying to get a look at a butterfly as all they want to do is fly.
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Larry – These were my first Red Admirals of the year, although there could have been some before this. As you’ve mentioned, they’re very flighty, so not that easy to identify unless you happen to catch one resting somewhere. I had to be patient to get the above photo. I watched the butterflies for awhile and noticed that one of them had about 3 favourite spots where it would perch for a few seconds, so I stood in the shadows next to one of the spots (the one with the nicest background), and eventually, I had 2 opportunities to shoot photos. I did actually get about 8 shots of the butterfly from slightly different angles, so it is possible to photograph these guys — just takes bit of time and patience! (-: