Sitting Pretty

Creation is teaming with unique, delicate beauties for the observant who are persistent to see beyond the obvious.

Within the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium in the Milwaukee Public Museum there are hundreds of specimens. This one, a Small Postman butterfly, (heliconius melpomene), was among the tiniest.  (To view the largest, visit my previous post: Owl Butterfly.)

Postman butterflies are tropical butterflies found in Central and South America. They are most common along sunlit forest edges with flowers.

As sweet as they may appear, they have little to fear from predators. As caterpillars, they feed on passion flower leaves, storing up toxic chemicals they retained throughout their lifespan that makes them foul-tasting to typical predators.

You can get a better look at this beauty by clicking on the photo and viewing a full-screen version.

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