''Limenitis weidemeyerii'', or Weidemeyer's admiral, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

from the subfamily

Nymphalinae The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family (biology), family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe (biology), tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is ...

, found in western North America.

Distribution

''Limenitis weidemeyerii'' is found in western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the northern

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

(an outlying population), and the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, from the Rocky Mountains westward to the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is named after John William Weidemeyer, a 19th-century entomologist whose specimen from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

was used to describe the species.

Description

The Weidemeyer's admiral's wings are black and white on the dorsal side, with rows of white spots across the wings. On the ventral side, the black is replaced by brown with gray markings along the margins of the hindwing. The larvae feed on aspen and cottonwood (''Populus''), willows (''Salix''), oceanspray (''Holodiscus''), and shadbush (''Amelanchier''). Adults feed on tree sap, carrion, and flower nectar.

Similar species

* White admiral (two subspecies of ''Limenitis arthemis'') *

Lorquin's admiral Lorquin's admiral (''Limenitis lorquini'') is a butterfly in the Nymphalinae subfamily. The butterfly is named after Pierre Joseph Michel Lorquin, a French naturalist who came to California from France during the Gold Rush, and made important dis ...

(''Limenitis lorquini'')

References

External links

"Weidemeyer's Admiral (''Limenitis weidemeyerii'') (W.H. Edwards, 1861)"
''Butterflies of Canada''.
"Caught Between the Pages: Treasures from the Franclemont Collection"
Online virtual exhibit featuring a selection of historic entomological writings and images from the Comstock Library of Entomology at Cornell University {{Taxonbar, from=Q3009304 Limenitis Fauna of the Western United States Fauna of the Rocky Mountains Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Butterflies of North America Lepidoptera of the United States Butterflies described in 1861 Lepidoptera of Canada Taxa named by William Henry Edwards