Red Admiral Behavior

[Anne Kilmer]

burro at panama.gulf.net wrote:
> 
> This summer in nw FL has been, I'm sure you've heard, extremely dry.
> Arid, in fact.  There are virtually no butterflies here.  I see an
> occasional hairstreak, and there are a few Eastern Swallowtails now, but
> little else.  Caterpillars have dried up and so have the leaves.  Few
> wildflowers.  Nothing bloomed in my garden.  Everything is shrivelled.
> I lie.  There are some abelia and butterfly bushes, but this is an
> alarming year.  I lived in the Mojave for years.  You expect hot, dry
> and occasionally windy weather.  But not here so near the Gulf.
> 
> Anyway...I have an air conditioning unit under a window in the living
> room.  Two to four Red Admirals visit it about 4 p.m. several nights a
> week to spiral about each other in its vortex.  They come in close to
> the unit, spiral up and are thrown out only to repeat it for an hour or
> so.
> 
> Can anyone shed light on this?  Actually, it looks like fun.
> 
> May

Well, at least you're not on fire. Yet. We here in the south are also 
drying up, although we had a sprinkle or two. The reporter who 
accompanied us on our butterfly count was disappointed. 

I've seen Red Admirals play with the dead leaves in the dust devil that 
lives in the courtyard of my Irish house when the wind is right. They 
are all carried up enjoyably. I think it's play. Otters do it, seagulls 
do it, why shouldn't butterflies do it? Looks like fun to me, too. 
Anne Kilmer
South Florida