A Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) was spotted during a photowalk at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Prince William County, Virginia USA.

18 SEP 2019 | Occoquan Bay NWR | Viceroy butterfly
Viceroy butterflies look similar to Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).
It can be distinguished from the Monarch by its smaller size and the post-median black line that runs across the veins on the hindwing. Source Credit: Viceroy (butterfly), Wikipedia.
The Backstory
I noticed the Viceroy butterfly as I was searching intensively for Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (S. filosa). The juxtaposition of complementary colors was too perfect to pass up, so I stopped to shoot a couple of photos. The photo “feels like” a harbinger of fall, despite the persistence of late-summer in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States of America.
Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.