Same visitor, different view, additional colors and patterns
Click for greater clarity.
The edge-on view of the red admiral, Vanessa atalanta, that you saw in the last post emphasized the red-orange coloring on the butterfly’s dorsal surface but gave no hint of the ventral side’s colors and patterns. Now you get to see them, just as you once again get to see an antelope-horns milkweed, Asclepias asperula. By the way, this is not just the same species of butterfly as last time, but the same individual. Date: April 11. Location: TX 71 west of Austin.
Although butterflies fly mostly rightside up, once they land they seem at home in whatever orientation makes it easy for them to draw nectar from flowers. At the time I took this picture, that meant upside down.
(Before today’s two pictures, a red admiral appeared once in these pages, when it was a small element in the lower-left corner of a panorama showing a resurgent wildflower meadow. In that photograph the butterfly was on a blackfoot daisy, but the picture coincidentally gave pride of place to antelope-horns milkweed.)
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Look at that! Red, white and blue decoration for Memorial Day!
shoreacres
May 22, 2012 at 2:40 PM
Thanks for pointing that out, complete with the word decoration to remind us that the holiday used to be called Decoration Day. I’ll add that every day in nature strikes me as a decorative day.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 3:15 PM
I seem to be seeing lots more butterflies this spring in my garden, and I’m enjoying it immensely. On the flip side, the garden is being eaten up by caterpillars and insects, probably a result of our very mild winter. Oh well, such is life. I’m glad you’re including a little wildlife in the wildflower photos.
Mind Margins
May 22, 2012 at 3:40 PM
For variety I’ve always included occasional pictures of various critters, and I plan to keep doing so. Like you, I’ve seen plenty of butterflies this season and more caterpillars than I usually do, thanks to our non-winter and an average amount of rain.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 3:46 PM
Beautiful, love butterflies!!!!
laviebohemeart
May 22, 2012 at 5:03 PM
It’d be hard not to.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Great capture.
I don’t think I’ve seen a butterfly with so much pattern on its wings before.
victoriaaphotography
May 22, 2012 at 6:22 PM
Yes, lots of patterning. It reminds me of paisley.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 6:42 PM
So pretty and delicate.. I love the little teal blue hearts across the wings…
Just A Smidgen
May 22, 2012 at 6:50 PM
That’s an excellent description: “little teal blue hearts.” It’s also an unexpected addition to what the name red admiral suggests.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 9:14 PM
Soft heart…
Just A Smidgen
May 22, 2012 at 11:26 PM
Your exquisite photo of the red admiral put me in mind of Milly, over at Drawings from Nature, who has focused in, in her most recent post, on the orange-tipped butterfly: http://drawingsfromnature-milly.blogspot.com/2012/05/buuterfly-love.html
Susan Scheid
May 22, 2012 at 9:20 PM
Thanks for the link, Susan. We have the falcate orangetip (I think that’s the same butterfly) here in Texas, too, but I don’t think I’ve ever photographed it. I’d like to.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2012 at 9:41 PM
I’ll look forward to that, should it occur. Meanwhile, I love the red admiral. Such a beauty.
Susan Scheid
May 24, 2012 at 8:40 PM
I love the patterns and colors of butterflies and this one is amazing!
dhphotosite
May 23, 2012 at 9:23 AM
I expect that the red admiral sails up to Pennsylvania, too.
Steve Schwartzman
May 23, 2012 at 10:13 AM
La nature fait un travail d’artiste.
lancoliebleue
May 24, 2012 at 4:56 AM
Et l’artiste copie le travail d’artiste que fait la nature.
Steve Schwartzman
May 24, 2012 at 8:39 AM
[…] Vanessa atalanta, a red admiral butterfly. On the sunny morning of December 13th I saw perhaps a dozen of them in the half-hour that I spent […]
Vanessa atalanta « Portraits of Wildflowers
December 20, 2012 at 6:25 AM