08/15/2026
August 13th 2026
The Red Admiral
This butterfly was dancing around our garden but wouldn't open his wings for a photo. Took several close-ups that displayed his interesting head with his strange looking antenna that reminded me of a chain on a light switch. But the next day he returned and wasn't so bashful as he allowed me to photo him with wings open. 🙂
Now that I knew what he really looked like I was able to look him up and this is what I discovered. Male Red Admirals patrol their territory by flying around its perimeter between 7 and 30 times per hour. When another male encroaches on its territory, the air battle begins and the one with the exceptional flying ability wins that territory. Because of 'female choice', only males with a territory have the opportunity to mate.
Kind of reminds me of high school where the guy with the ‘cool’ car got the dates. (1960’s) 😉