Vanessa atalanta

Family: Brush-footed Butterflies(Nymphalidae)

Subfamily: True Brushfoots (Nymphalinae)

Identification: Upperside is black with white spots near the apex; forewing with red median band, hindwing with red marginal band. The winter form is smaller and duller, summer form larger and brighter with an interrupted forewing band. 

Life history: The Red Admiral has a very erratic, rapid flight. Males perch, on ridgetops if available, in the afternoon to wait for females, who lay eggs singly on the tops of host plant leaves. Young caterpillars eat and live within a shelter of folded leaves; older caterpillars make a nest of leaves tied together with silk. Adults hibernate. 

Flight: Two broods from March-October in the north, winters from October-March in South Texas. 

Wing span: 1 3/4 - 3 inches (4.5 - 7.6 cm). 

Caterpillar hosts: Plants of the nettle family (Urticaceae) including stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), tall wild nettle (U. gracilis), wood nettle (Laportea canadensis), false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), pellitory (Parietoria pennsylvanica), mamaki (Pipturus albidus), and possibly hops (Humulus). 

Adult food: Red Admirals prefer sap flows on trees, fermenting fruit, and bird droppings; visiting flowers only when these are not available. Then they will nectar at common milkweed, red clover, aster, and alfalfa, among others. 

Habitat: Moist woods, yards, parks, marshes, seeps, moist fields. During migrations, the Red Admiral is found in almost any habitat from tundra to subtropics. 

Range: Guatemala north through Mexico and the United States to northern Canada; Hawaii, some Caribbean Islands, New Zealand, Europe, Northern Africa, Asia. Cannot survive coldest winters; most of North America must be recolonized each spring by southern migrants. 

Blue Hole at Red Clay State Park

Red Clay State Historic Park is located in the extreme southwest corner of Bradley County in Tennessee, just above the Tennessee-Georgia state line.

The park encompasses 263-acres of narrow valleys formerly used as cotton and pasture land.  There are also forested ridges that average 200 feet or more above the valley floor. The site contains a natural landmark, the Blue Hole Spring, which arises from beneath a limestone ledge to form a deep pool that flows into Mill Creek, a tributary of the Conasauga and Coosa River system.  The spring was used by the Cherokee for their water supply during council meetings.

Well I have worked on this most of the day and I have changed what I didn't like and made it look like what I wanted .  It's really a lot of fun to boss a computer around...  LOL.  I made the blog like what I like but whats really important is what you like.  Give me some feed back and let me know what you would like to see different.

Hello everyone I am just starting my blog and I'm just adding a few things and testing the site.  Give me some feed back when you get a chance.

Pre-Fried Green tomatoes

Summer time in the South