I shot this photograph in June 2009 while visiting my aunt, uncle and cousin in Alabama, and was amazed at its blue, black, white and orange colors. Since I hadn’t seen this before, I asked LepdoMan to identify it. LepdoMan is a biologist and co-worker who collects, studies and pretty much knows everything about moths and butterflies, which are of the insect family Lepidoptera. LeptoMan said the butterfly is a red-spotted purple.
I blinked, focused harder on the photograph, and pointed out that I didn’t see any red or purple in my photo. He said that on the other side of its wings–and in the right light–it looks kind of red and purple-ish.
But on the side I photographed and in most light it doesn’t.
In fact, I looked online and didn’t find a single picture that was very red and purple-ish.
So thanks for your help LeptoMan, but given the lack of red or purple in this butterfly, I am adding this to my list of poorly named critters.