Indian Red Admiral Vanessa indica

This butterfly has conquered some of the world's most dramatic mountain terrain — found in the Himalayas and the Nilgiri Hills, it thrives at high altitudes where most insects dare not venture. A close relative of the globe-trotting painted lady, it shares that species' wandering spirit and its taste for wide-open landscapes, ranging all the way from India to Japan and Korea.

As a member of the admiral group, its bold rust-and-black wing pattern serves as a warning to predators. Keep an eye out on mountain trails — a flash of color sailing past the treeline is often this high-altitude adventurer, entirely at home in the thin air where the clouds begin.