Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
We have Michelle Reynolds to thank for today’s photo, along with her kids: Amanda, Sean, Henry and Edward. Sean especially helps find bugs, and either he or Michelle photograph them, and then she sends them in.
Michelle says this is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, and give the striking (striping?) coloration who am I to argue.
What a beautiful photo. The colors are fairly even as well, so I think this would make a good wallpaper. Yep, I was right. I especially love the “fur” all down the butterfly’s body. It’s like they made this thing out of a caterpillar or something. Oh wait, they did. Well, a lazy caterpillar, then. Didn’t even bother to get a haircut before metamorphosing.
Thanks Michelle! And Amanda, Sean, Henry and Edward!
(P.S. Sean: I’ve got your beetle picture slotted up for next Tuesday!)
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
JFargo said,
April 10, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
That is absolutely gorgeous, especially the huge version. Great shot Michelle and kids!
linda said,
April 21, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
I love your upbeat commentary, but swallowtail catapillars aren’t fuzzy. They have leathery skin, and sometimes shoot an orange horn out of their thickened and turned under heads if they feel threatened. I’ve been following the progress of a whole clump of them on my lemon tree. First they ate a bunch of leaves, then they just hung there for awhile. After they disappeared, I found them all clumped together on the trunk, and a lot darker. Today when I looked, they had all gone except for three runts of the litter. I haven’t spotted their cocoons yet, but I imagine that’s where they went. These are black with pink spots and lack the tails that give them their common name. Don’t even seem related to the tigers, except for the scalloped lower edge of their wings.
David Brady said,
April 21, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
linda: Cool! That’s awesome. I’m just used to most caterpillars being furry, I guess.
Thanks!