Monday, May 2, 2011

Perfection from a cocoon

These insects are simply amazing. Probably the most amazing insect ever. We have had a few cocoons at work over the last few months; these photos are of our latest edition which has just hatched. The Monarch's beauty is mind blowing, it's perfection all wrapped up in a butterfly.

Butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches

Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.

Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

Many butterflies can taste with their feet to find out whether the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on to be their caterpillars' food or not.

Butterflies and insects have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies, called the exoskeleton. This protects the insect and keeps water inside their bodies so they don’t dry out.

When in the stage of migration, Monarch butterflies use drafts of warm air that helps them glide in the air. This process in turn helps them to conserve energy required for their long flights.

The Monarch butterflies are foul tasting and poisonous as well. This is due to the presence of certain cardenolide aglycones in the body, which is ingested when the butterfly feeds on milkweed


(The top left and bottom right have been edited. The other two show natural true beauty which is simply amazing and irresistible!)

1 comment:

  1. So lovely. Glad to have been able to play a part in this post too! Loving the new header too :-)

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