Forest Beauty is a photograph by Kim Pate which was uploaded on April 17th, 2013.
Forest Beauty
This is the red-spotted purple, Limenitis arthemis astyanax (Fabricius); It's a beautiful forest butterfly that is also commonly seen in wooded... more
by Kim Pate
Title
Forest Beauty
Artist
Kim Pate
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
This is the red-spotted purple, Limenitis arthemis astyanax (Fabricius); It's a beautiful forest butterfly that is also commonly seen in wooded suburban areas. It is considered to be a Batesian mimic of the poisonous pipe vine swallowtail, Battus philenor (Linnaeus), with which it is sympatric. For detailed taxonomic information on the red-spotted purple, see Warren et al. (2009a).
The white admiral, Limenitis arthemis arthemis (Drury), is a more northern subspecies and is not mimetic. It is believed to benefit from its disruptive banded coloration for protection in the absence of a poisonous model (Platt and Brower 1968). For photos and detailed taxonomic information on the white admiral, see Warren et al. (2009b). The red-spotted purple interbreeds with the white admiral in the zone of overlap, and the hybrids are healthy and fertile (Scott 1986).
The red-spotted purple also interbreeds with the closely-related, congeneric viceroy butterfly, Limenitis archippus (Cramer), both in the laboratory and occasionally in the field (Platt 1975, Platt and Greenfield 1968, Covell 1994, Platt and Maudsley 1994, Platt et al. 2003, Ritland 1990). Ritland (1990) discussed factors favoring increased rates of hybridization in southern Georgia and northern Florida.
Uploaded
April 17th, 2013
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