Sharing
by Robert Bales
Title
Sharing
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
The Monarch and the Small Blue Grecian Butterflies sharing the same flower.
Some of the many butterflies at the Boise Zoo Butterflies Bloom Exhibit . It is a great place to view many different types of butterflies. You can walk through a greenhouse-like mesh enclosure with hundreds of butterflies. Zoo Boise Director Steve Burns says the butterflies come from Costa Rica. It gives the farmers in that area the opportunity to make money off of the forests rather than have to cut it down and ranch it so it is a great way for those folks to keep the rainforests intact and still make money for their families.
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger,wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is considered an iconic pollinator species. Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9-10.2 cm (3-4 in) The viceroy butterfly is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hind wing.
The eastern North American monarch population is notable for its annual southward late-summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico. During the fall migration, monarchs cover thousands of miles, with a corresponding multi-generational return north. The western North American population of monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains often migrates to sites in California but has been found in overwintering Mexican sites as well. Monarchs were transported to the International Space Station and were bred there.
Heliconians are butterflies with long forewings. Once placed in their own family, they are now considered closely related to the fritillaries. Larvae of most longwings feed on passion vines, and this host plant imparts noxious chemicals to the larvae which are carried over to the adult butterflies. This relationship is identical to the monarch butterflies' reliance on its host plant, milkweed, for defense. Predators find these chemicals distasteful and avoid eating both the larvae and adult butterflies.
Captive longwing butterflies have unusually long lifespans and high fecundity rates, which largely result from their augmented diet. Instead of surviving on food stores from the larval stage or solely sipping flower nectar, adult longwing butterflies are avid pollen eaters. This trait makes them eminently suitable for butterfly farming and butterfly gardening.
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July 29th, 2016
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Viewed 1,057 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 03/22/2024 at 9:26 AM
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Comments (17)
Anita Faye
Robert, happy to feature your beautiful work on Groovy Butterflies! https://fineartamerica.com/groups/groovy-butterflies.html
Sandi OReilly
Fabulous Robert, congrats on Special Feature in Visions of Spring-Glances of Summer! F/L
RC DeWinter
Congrats on your special feature in Visions Of Spring - Glances Of Summer - lovely work.
Beverly Guilliams
Congrats on Your Special Featured Artist of the Week in: Visions of Spring........
Dora Sofia Caputo Photographic Art and Design
Amazing capture of a Monarch and Blue Grecian butterflies sharing the same flower. Great composition, colors and detail. Congrats, Robert! This great image is being featured in the Special Featured Artists of the Week Section of the Visions of Spring - Glances of Summer Homepage. F/L.
Robert Bales replied:
Thanks so much for the wonderful Special Feature for the week!! it is surely greatly appreciated and also thanks for the great promotion!!
Ruth Housley
You got two beautiful butterfly and a flower in your shot and a nice capture Robert!! L/F Ruth