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Project Noah Nature School
Nymphalis antiopa
Nymphalis antiopa has a wingspan of 62–75 mm. The upper side of the butterfly is colored in a very dark red, with a bright, yellowish border around the wings. There is a darker band with bright blue spots between the border and the dark red inner side. Sexes are similar, although the females are slightly larger.
In North America, N. antiopa ranges from the northern tundra to central Mexico
I spotted this along a trail from the upper parking lot in Fireman's park. There were a few butterflies around but this was the only one I could photograph. I had to step off the trail to get close and I waited a while for it to open it's wings. It was still at a distance for my macro lense, so I cropped and zoomed in on it to help with ID. The underside of the wings was mottled grey and looked kind of like a dead leaf.
Sound wonderful - my wife wants me to slow my long walks around the world and discover wildlife here- but Tasmania sounds very interesting - I don't do tourism - so must find a project.
I would Mick, but I've moved half-a-world away, and now live in Tasmania. Many of our butterflies here actually get ants to raise them. The females lay their eggs on grasses near ant nests. The ant take the eggs inside their hill, and tend the larvae in exchange of the the honeydew they secrete. Cool, huh? Our "contribution" to the process is to encourage the flowering plants that are preferred by the males when they first emerge (they usually have to wait at least a month for the females). In exchange, we have a few months in which walking through one stretch of our property is like walking through a butterfly house - truly magical.
I used to find their cocoons all over our stucco house. I'd carefully twist the connecting threads onto a stick and then put the stick in a large jar so that I could watch them hatch out - then I'd release them. They are my favorite butterfly from my childhood.
Thanks Karen. This was the first time I've seen this butterfly and it is a beauty!
Spotted on Aug 5, 2011
Submitted on Aug 6, 2011
