Lepidoptera Lovers: Butterfly Kisses

[freedombecki]

Half male, half female butterfly steals the show at Natural History Museum

Half male, half female butterfly steals the show at Natural History Museum | Science | guardian.co.uk

Ah, the infinite diversity of nature... *sigh*

 

[freedombecki]

The campus I work at just built a butterfly garden in the center(I thought it was an old English garden as overgrown as it was). Can't wait for fall, I was told we're in the Monarch migration path...

Yes, Nate. I looked up their website and found this:

Butterfly Garden

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Butterflies, months, and skippers are some of the most beautiful of all insects. Their striking appearance adds both color and activity to the most pleasing of landscapes. They may be observed more easily and closely than other species of wildlife. Months expand the enjoyment time of your garden because they are active primarily during the night, while butterflies and skippers are active during the day.
They belong to the Lepidoptera order and are instrumental in pollinating plants, some specific to a single plant species. Lepidopterans should be conserved and managed as they are an essential component of both the animal food chain and the reproductive process of plants.



Sooner Butterfly Garden


It is something I'm sure my Oklahoma neighbors and friends are very proud of.

 

[freedombecki]

Luv'em.
‪color without pigment morpho butterfly blue wavelength‬‏ - YouTube

Thanks for sharing the fascinating You Tube photographic essay on morpho butterflies' shimmering blue color and how it could speed up and revolutionize the computer industry.

It's hard to think of something so beautiful as a computer revolution, imho, but the truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

 

[freedombecki]

Found a great site for attracting butterflies to your yard and garden:

What butterflies like

Excerpts (herbs butterflies like):

• Yarrow, Achillea spp.
• Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum
• Elephant Garlic, Allium ampeloprasum
• Chives, Allium schoenoprasum
• Dill, Anethum graveolens
• Angelica, Angelica spp.
• Wild Celery, Apium graveolens
• Dogbane, Apocynum cannabinum
• Caraway, Carum carvi
• New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus
• Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota
• Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
• Eupatorium, Eupatorium spp.
• Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare
• Cow Parsnip, Heracleum spp.
• Hyssop, Hyssop officinalis
• Lavender, Lavedula spp.
• Lovage, Levisticum officinale
• Mints, Mentha spp.
• Bee Balm, Mondara didyma
• Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
• Horsemint, Monarda punctata
• Basil, Ocimum spp.
• Oregano, Origanum spp.
• Parsley, Petroselinum crispum
• Anise, Pimpinella anisum
• Plantain, Plantago spp.
• Rosemary, Rosmarinus spp.
• Scarlet Sage, Salvia cocinea
• Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans
• Virginia Skullcap, Scutellaria laterifolia
• Thyme, Thymus spp.
• Culver's Root, Veronicastrum virginicum
• Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus

And if you're lucky enough to live in Florida or the subtropics, there are many plants listed butterflies like.

Free milkweed seed for attracting the Monarch butterfly are here:

Free milkweed seeds

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Monarchs need your help NOW! In the past 10 years, over 75% of the wintering Monarchs from North America froze to death in Mexico as a result of three days of rain and sub-freezing conditions. They have sprung back in numbers but there is a Nationwide shortage of milkweed. Freak weather patterns destroy habitats and kill millions of helpless Monarchs. Habitat must be protected now to ensure their survival, before we see the day when this miracle of nature is only a memory. The Monarchs need your help NOW. Please plant seeds and ensure their survival. A Milkweed in every yard![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Instructions and address to send your self-addressed, stamped envelope at link above. Kids? They can enter a butterfly picture/idea contest here.
[/FONT]


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[freedombecki]

I'm really tempted to go back here and make this image into wallpaper on my desktop (scroll down 8 or so rows of gorgeous pictures down at link below:

Monarch Butterfly wallpaper here

Edit: oh, my gosh, I just want to look at my desktop now. I took the widescreen image for my desktop...it's better than good.

Tell me if ya took the plunge...
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[freedombecki]

Oh, and if you missed, you might like to be as inspired by Douger's Morpho butterfly link as I was, by all means, go back to page one and click. You'll get an amazing lesson in butterfly color. Be sure and leave your thanks or rep him for that. Also, Grace's You tube repairing a butterfly wing documentary is the greatest! Thanks again, to each of them for stellar posts!

 

[freedombecki]

When I tested this wallpaper, it replaced my file on the Monarch butterfly. I had to log in here to see it. If I post this one, will it erase my wallpaper pic above?

Hmm seems to be the same in the posting area...

link

One of the problems I got after succumbing to fibromyalgia was something my doctor calls "dry eye syndrome." Online, changing colors frequently helps make some of the pain go away, and a soothing color like blue or green almost eliminates the symptoms. Just saying, in case someone else here has dry eyes after being online too long. I also changed the white on my browser to a soft light bluegreen. Very beneficial!
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[freedombecki]

Here's another source for a blue butterfly background on green:

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Source for the above free wallpaper

This one has themes for wallpaper, many themes ...ahem... hem&haw ,../blush...
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[Momanohedhunter]

Here's another source for a blue butterfly background on green:

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Source for the above free wallpaper

This one has themes for wallpaper, many themes ...ahem... hem&haw ,../blush...
​

Nice. My Son made a butterfly collection for Biology. He did not want to kill them so we went to Loves truck stop and pulled them from the front of the grill. He got props for that, and was a decent enough set of plates that his teacher asked if he could keep it. I will see if he has it and post it up.

 

[Douger]

I'm not a full time terrorist, Rebecca, When the topic is of interest, I get serious. Thank you for creating this post.

 

[freedombecki]

Here's another source for a blue butterfly background on green:


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Source for the above free wallpaper

This one has themes for wallpaper, many themes ...ahem... hem&haw ,../blush...
​

Nice. My Son made a butterfly collection for Biology. He did not want to kill them so we went to Loves truck stop and pulled them from the front of the grill. He got props for that, and was a decent enough set of plates that his teacher asked if he could keep it. I will see if he has it and post it up.

Thanks, Momanohedhunter. I hope you will get photographs of your son's work and post up. And one for your son's keeping. That needs to go into his book if he decides on having a family of his own. His kids would love it. Use good lifetime paper. Some of our old family pictures are lackluster these days, and some of the best ones are post WWII in B&W. A few of the color ones are ok, but not many.

 

[freedombecki]

I'm not a full time terrorist, Rebecca, When the topic is of interest, I get serious. Thank you for creating this post.

I lean toward ornithology myself, but I thought Lepidoptera would be fun for a change. So far, so good. Hope you will add anything in the moth/butterfly/etc. realm you run across to this thread. If your interests are reflected in the blue color lecture of the Morph blue butterfly You Tube you shared, you have a nose for the scientific. Also, I'm becki, not Rebecca. My mama named me after two grandmas but decided to call me "becki" from the cradle. I did a little family tree research just a few months ago, and found both my big brother and I got our nicknames from an aunt and uncle one of my grandparents. She never told me that. nor why. She's been gone almost 40 years. *sigh*

 

[freedombecki]

Today, I found Red Glider from West Africa in another favorite color of mine. Aka Cymothose coccinata, they love fermenting fruit juice found in the wild, according to my little hardback, "A World of Butterflies" by Brian Cassie for Bulfinch Press of New York and Boston.

Red Glider

Cymothose coccinata
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Credits to Butterfly Utopia.
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[freedombecki]

Well, one more red butterfly before I hit the road...

This one, too, was at Butterfly Utopia.

Callicore cynosura

Credits

I found one yesterday that truly had a unique shape, all red, but it wasn't online today, at least not in Bing.

Okay, two for the road...

I think you can actually order this, but I'm not certain. Credits
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[freedombecki]

Note: Interactive Listing of Mexican Butterflies (click on scientific name and see at link)

Found this interesting fellow (above): the Mexican Kite-Swallowtail

 

[freedombecki]

I've been wanting to post the largest butterfly in the world since yesterday, but it's been a little busy around here.

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly is probably on the endangered list, and is found in New Guinea. It is dimorphic, and the male looks like this:

The Female (below) is said to be somewhat larger than the male. A New Guinea man shows the 10-to 12" size of the female. It is said they fly like birds, thus are called "birdwings."

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[Jos]

One of my favorites

I have 7, 5 male's and 2 females

 

[Jos]

Troides helena

 

[freedombecki]

One of my favorites

I have 7, 5 male's and 2 females

Wow, Jos. That's a beautiful Rajah Brooke's Birdwing butterfly. I found another image at Wikipedia that includes the female, but it doesn't say how large it is. Surely it is huge.

Credits It would be helpful if the photographers would put a measuring tape across the field of view to show the wingspan of these amazing arthropodae.

 

[freedombecki]

Troides helena

Wow, what an attractive fellow. this common birdwing. He's a showstopper. Again, I wish we knew his size.