Vanessa atalanta 'Red Admiral' Butterfly

The Echinacea purpurea blooms in the garden have attracted a number of butterflies into the garden. Vanessa atalanta or 'Red Admiral' as it is commonly known has been the one to show up in greater numbers.



Red Admirals are one of the most common butterflies around here because their habitat ranges from Canada all the way down to Guatemala. They're considered to be people friendly because they will land on or near people and aren't scared off easily. The ones that have been visiting my garden must be women because they're suppose to be territorial but these have been happily sharing the garden. I've even observed up to three Red Admirals feeding on one coneflower and an instance of a Red Admiral sharing a sunflower with a honey bee. I've counted up to seven of them in the garden at one time.

I've posted another small video clip to YouTube, this time of these garden visitors. You can see it by rick clicking here and opening the video in a new window. It should also be in my sidebar along with the other gardening videos I upload to YouTube.