Butterflies
Dead Leaf Butterfly – Open
This is the colorful side of the Dead Leaf Butterfly. The coloring and marking on the upper side of their wings is dramatically different from the bottom side of the wings.
When the wings are folded up, this butterfly looks just like a brown, dried leaf. Its camouflage is very convincing. (See my previous post – Dead Leaf Butterfly) As you can see in this photo, when the Dead Leaf Butterfly opens its wings, it becomes an attractive, exotic beauty.
The Dead Leaf Butterfly is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan.
You can get a better view of the detail in this colorful side of the Dead Leaf by looking at the larger version; available by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Dead Leaf Butterfly
Look closely or you’ll miss it. At first glance, this appears to be a leaf but, wait…it has legs and antennae! This is the cleverly disguised Dead Leaf Butterfly (Kallima inachus), sometimes called Orange Oakleaf.
When its wings are closed, it looks like a dried leaf. This incredibly effective, natural camouflage helps it avoid predators. When open, its wings are predominately a bluish-black with striking orange markings. In my next post, I’ll give you a view of this same butterfly with it’s wings open.
This cool creature is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan.
You can get a better view of the detail in this wing by looking at the larger version; available by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Reclining Monarch
This is a butterfly common to our neighborhood and most of North America. This is the much-loved monarch butterfly. I found this one on a cool morning, perched among some purple asters growing wild in a field. Because of the early, cool conditions, this monarch was moving slow and the asters hadn’t opened yet.
Clicking on the photo will give you a better view, opening a larger version in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Common Blue Morpho
Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine. ~Jeffrey Glassberg
Spanning the world to bring you the beauty of the nature… Actually, I found this beauty at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO.
This is the Common Blue Morpho (Morpho Peleides) butterfly – common to Central and South America.
You can view a larger version of this photo by simply clicking on it.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Fiesta Butterfly
The intricacy and beauty of nature continually affirms the concept of intelligent design to me. You’ll never convince me this kind of order and detail is the result of millions of years of happenstance. This stunning example of intelligent design was found at The Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Adventure in Branson, MO. They cultivate a variety of butterfly species there.
This particular butterfly is a Leopard Lacewing (cethosia cyane); a species of heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China, and Indochina.
You can get a better look by viewing the larger version. Just click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Orange Adorned Butterfly
This little beauty was content to pose for a photo or two. I don’t know what kind of butterfly it is. It was one of hundreds we walked among at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO. I was able to snap several other unique butterflies there and will share them in the days and weeks to come. Stay tuned.
To view a larger version of this image, click in it and a new browser window will open.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Technicolor Throne
This skipper moth was overlooking the splendor of his kingdom from the comfort of his technicolor throne, a purple cone flower.
This is a photo taken on our recent vacation. This image came from a flowerbed just outside the gift shop of the Topeka Zoo. While the rest of our party went to look through the shop, I stayed outside to snap more photos.
To view a larger version of the king on his throne, click on the image.
Damsel in Distress
When I walk through the woods with my camera, I walk slowly. I’m being careful to observe all that is around me – eyes attuned to the slightest movement or color or pattern or light that might make an interesting image. On such a walk, I noticed a small, white butterfly moving though the weeds along the path. I decided to try a take a photo of it when it finally found a place to land.
I watched as it fluttered a bit from spot to spot. At one point it was fluttering under a large leaf. With my camera ready, I waited for it to emerge. Despite it’s continued fluttering, it wouldn’t come out in the open. Tired of waiting, I stooped down to get a better look and discovered why it wasn’t flying out into the open.
A spider had snatched it. It wasn’t caught in a web. This spider, hiding on the underside of this leaf, grabbed it as it fluttered by.
This is a close-up view of some tiny critters. Both of them together would not be much bigger than my thumbnail.
To view a larger version of this image, click on the photo.
Simple Butterfly
I was able to catch this butterfly resting for a brief moment on the purple coneflowers near our home. Butterflies have been scarce this year – at least around our place – so I was glad to capture this one digitally.
To see a larger version, simply click on the image.
Morning Dangler
I found this monarch butterfly clinging to the underside of a purple coneflower in a meadow very early morning. It was obvious, this is where it spent the night. It was still in sleep-mode when I photographed it. I was able to nudge it without it flying off. I eventually coaxed it to the top of the flower and posted a photo of that earlier ( see it here: Monarch of the Meadow)
For a little different feel, I added a bit of texture to this one.
You can see a larger version of this image by clicking on it.