Red-spotted Purple

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5 - Secure
S5 - Secure

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Red-spotted purple is a large brush-footed butterfly with a 3″ to 3½″ wingspan.

The upper side is dark blue, the underside is dark brown. The upper side of the forewing is dark bluish-black near the body fading to dark brown or orangish-brown near the tip. There is a submarginal row of orange spots and three marginal rows white or pale blue spots. The upper side of the hindwing is dark blue fading to a submarginal row of iridescent light blue spots. There are also three marginal rows pale blue spots.

The underside of both wings is brownish-black with a submarginal row of orange spots and three marginal rows white or pale blue spots. There are additional black-ringed orange spots near the base of each wing.

The range of this species overlaps that of the White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis) in a broad band from Connecticut to southwestern Minnesota. Where the ranges overlap the subspecies interbreed and produce offspring with intergrading characteristics.

Size

Wingspan: 3″ to 3¼″

Similar Species

Habitat

Deciduous or mixed forests dominated by aspen or birch.

Ecology

Season

Late May to early September

Behavior

Life Cycle

The female lays eggs singly on leaf tips of host plants. Offspring of the first brood emerge in August. The offspring of the second brood overwinter as caterpillars in rolled leaves, pupate in the spring, and emerge as adults in June.

Larva Food/Hosts

Leaves of American basswood, aspen, birch, black cherry, hawthorn, oak, serviceberry, willow, and other trees.

Adult Food

Sap flows, rotting fruit, aphid honeydew, carrion, dung, and occasionally nectar from small white flowers including meadowsweet and arrowwood.

Distribution

Sources

7, 21, 24, 27, 30, 82.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 5/21/2026).

Limenitis arthemis subsp. astyanax (Fabricius, 1775) in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. Accessed 5/21/2026.