Red Admiral Butterfly

The red admiral butterflies have been out in abundance lately.  Here are some of my favourite shots of these beauties....



The red admiral has some distinctive patterning that make them quite easy to identify.  The males and females are similar looking. 

This one looks like it has escaped death a few times.  The tears in the wings are most likely from birds. 



The underside of the red admiral's wings are very intricate.  See how it is holding its wings together over its back while resting... this is one way to determine that it is a butterfly.  The clubbed antennae is another characteristic indicative of a butterfly. 



For fun, I played with my focus a bit to create this abstract. 

Check out the following websites for more info on the red admiral and butterflies in general:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/allabout/Bflyormoth.shtml  The difference between a butterfly and a moth

http://www.gardenswithwings.com/butterfly/Red%20Admiral/index.html  Information on the red admiral