An attractive  woodland butterfly found in the far northern U.S. and Canada.  Look for them along woodland edges sunning themselves or on mud puddles.  Scat, especially from a predator, acts like a magnet.  There are 1 to 2 summer broods.  This is the same species as the Red-Spotted Purple, (Limentitis arthemis astyanax) which is a mimic of the Pipevine Swallowtail, (Battus philenor).  This is called polymorphism.  There are intergrades where the two subspecies overlap.