In the animal kingdom, there are oftentimes creatures that are visually similar to one another. For example, three of the four species of Lady Butterflies that reside in Texas appear very closely related to one another in both color and pattern. However, there is that fourth species, the black sheep of the family as it were, whose appearance is virtually nothing like the other three species, and that variety is the Red Admiral.
The Red Admiral ( Vanessa atalanta) is a familiar butterfly whose natural range encompasses the entire continent, obviously including the entire state of Texas. It is one of four species of “ladies” to call Texas home, and as I mentioned above, it is the most distinctive of the group. It does not appear to favor one type of habitat over another, but rather is a habitat generalist, thriving in natural and feral forests, plains, grasslands, mesquite thornscrub, and even urban backyards.
This medium sized butterfly (wingspan of two inches) is like many other butterflies in that the above wings and below wings look entirely different from one another. The above forewing is bicolored with brown close to the body and black on the wing tip; these colors are separated by an orange stripe. The black wing tips are marked with sharply contrasting white dots. The above hindwing is also brown, but the lower quarter of the wing is orange with small black spots that are close to the edges. There are two small blue spots on the interior of each hindwing. The body is brown and the antennae are black with white tips.
