Red-spotted Purple

About the Red-spotted Purple

A blue-black butterfly with iridescent blue hindwings and red-orange spots on its underside. It is thought to mimic the toxic Pipevine Swallowtail, though it has no tails. In northern areas the same species has a white band across the wings and is called the White Admiral. Where the two forms meet they interbreed. Caterpillars resemble bird droppings.