2014 - $20 - Fine Silver Coin - Butterflies of Canada: Red-Spotted Purple

This beautifully engraved and painted 99.99% pure silver coin features the red-spotted purple, whose Canadian habitat is largely restricted to southern Ontario. This lovely butterfly's colouring and spot patterns represent an important protective adaptation: the red-spotted purple has evolved to mimic a poisonous butterfly, the Pipevine Swallowtail.

Limenitis arthemis astyanax looks much like its close relative, the well-known White Admiral butterfly. Its upper wings are bright bluish-purple and outlined with several rows of blue-white dashes. The upper hind wing is marked with lovely iridescent blue-green squares.Where their ranges overlap, the red-spotted purple also bears the familiar white bands of the White Admiral. The red-spotted purple is most commonly found on the outskirts of wooded areas, on gravel roads sunning its wings, in open meadows, and in woodland clearings.

Did you know…
•   The red-spotted purple prefers to lay its eggs on plum and oak leaves.
•   The adults fly throughout the summer, from June to mid-September, and are diurnal, restricting their active period to daylight hours.

Specifications

No. 130556
Mintage 10000
Composition 99.99% pure silver
Finish proof
Weight (g) 31.83
Diameter (mm) 40
Edge serrated Certificateserialized
Face value 20 dollars
Artist Celia Godkin (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)