Successive close-ups of the scales of a Peacock butterfly wing.
Shown from left to right, top to bottom: (second row) a closeup of the scales of the specimen at top, high magnification view of coloured scales (different species); (third row) electron micrograph of a patch of wing (~×50 magnification), the scales close up (~×200); (last row) a single scale (×1000), microstructure of a scale (×5000).
(photos: MichaD (top and second row left), Shaddack (second row right), SecretDisc (micrographs))
(Monarch Butterfly; taken in Orlando Florida)
Monarch butterflies are the only insect to migrate up to 2,500 miles to get out of the cold weather and hibernate. But not all monarch butterflies migrate; only the fourth generation of monarchs can migrate each year because the first three generations die after about six weeks from escaping their cocoons. Monarch Butterflies are also known for their capacity of making transatlantic crossings.
(picture taken by myself)
(submission from whenthesandturnstoglass)
The Monarch Butterfly migration:
Every year, in the autumn season, the West and Upper East Coast of the United States, Florida, and Mexico are invaded by more butterflies than your imagination has room for. While this habit is not specific to the Monarch Butterfly, they do seem to get most of the attention.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get lost in these clouds of dazzling insects some point during a fall or spring in your life, as they migrate away from the cold, southbound, or upwards back home, respectively. If you’re not lucky, you’ll end up with one of these so close in your face you can taste windshield.
You can learn more about butterflies below:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sm/aboutmbsf.htmlhttp://www.naba.org/qanda.html
You can hear a romantic Punk/Folk ballad about one such butterfly making his way back to his butterfly love through rain or snow from Souffle: http://www.facebook.com/souffleband
(submission from savehyrule)
edit from ohscience: I thought about deleting that last link but I think it’s so funny that the submitter included it that I’m leaving it there.
This is a young Terias deva chilensis, a Chilean butterfly. The picture was taken in my garden.
“This is a very pretty small Pierid. It lives from the Andean slopes at about 1700 mts to the Pacific side. The larvae lives in caper plants Cassia stipulacea. It is very common and as flyes slowly is easy to collect them. They are more frequently seen in Aconcagua and Coquimbo.” (entomología.cl)
(submission from panzerturkey)
the banana spider has already stung the butterfly and is preparing to spin it in silk for a later meal
butterfly egg:
Perched on the tendril of a Passiflora plant, the egg of the Julia heliconian butterfly may be safe from hungry ants. This species lays its eggs almost exclusively on this plant’s twisted vines.
