Butterfly Wings
by Iris Richardson
Title
Butterfly Wings
Artist
Iris Richardson
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Macro of swallowtail butterfly wings with black,blue,white and orange color in vertical orientation.
Every year we plant herbs in our garden to attract butterflies. The herbs will be the swallowtails caterpillars first food. The female butterfly lays her eggs on the herb stem. The moment we see the caterpillars we collect them and put them in a safe butterfly terrarium. if we did not do that most of them would be eaten by birds. We keep feeding the caterpillars herbs until they form their Chrysalis (pupa). All of us take a turn checking on the pupas to make sure we see them hatch for quick release. Towards the time the butterflies should hatch we add some blooming plants to their environment. This will give them a spot to let their wings unfold. If I time it just right that is the time I take my butterfly photographs. The butterflies sit quite still letting nature take its course and I take the most pristine butterfly pictures.
Papilio polyxenes, the black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey.
Uploaded
July 18th, 2014
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