fancy Man

Hey, look at Me!

Vanessa atalanta

For the third summer in a row, a male red admiral butterfly has chosen the front of our house as his dancing ground and display arena. Red admirals are known to be territorial and claim a bright, sunlit area to show off and attract a mate. Our gray and white color scheme, catching the late afternoon sun, apparently is the perfect place to show off your fancy duds.

The "red admiral" comes from red chevron-shaped markings on the topside of the wings, someone thought they looked like the stripes on a Petty Officer's uniform. Oddly, admiral's uniforms have gold bars, not the red of a Petty Officer.