Izay Ayesha looks at some beautiful creatures
Human heart flutters with butterflies and they are indeed a treat to watch. There are approximately 17,500 species of butterflies that never fail to fascinate the human race. Some butterflies are as large as bats and others smaller than human fingernails. Some live longer than a year and others are extinguished in a few days. Some put on art shows with their iridescent colours, while others blend into their backgrounds with camouflage colours or transparent wings. In any shape or form butterflies are an exquisite manifestation of the beauty of nature spread over the globe.
Dead Leaf
Also known as the Orange Oakleaf butterfly, the Dead Leaf is found in places ranging from Pakistan to Japan, with countries like Laos, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand in between. Like its name suggests, this species’ superpower is its dead-leaf appearance, giving it great camouflage against predators. However, when it spreads its wings, it displays a beautiful luminous colour pattern that makes it stand proud among other dazzling butterflies.
Sylphina Angel
Found in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, these butterflies usually flutter 2,000 to 3,000 m (6,500 to 10,000 ft.) high in cloud forests. They have “blue inner wings and black lined clear outer wings, black bodies, straight black antennae and bright red or white or green tails.” Sylphina Angels are solitary butterflies, usually only gathering to mate. For the most part, adults live no longer than nine months.
Question Mark
There’s no question, this is a beautiful butterfly with its black and orange colours and sharply angled wings. It likes to dine on sap, mud, fruit, dung, and carrion, and is found in woodlands, swamps, parks and residential landscapes across the United States. There is a silver mark shaped like a question mark on the underside of the butterfly’s lower wing, giving it its English and Latin name.
Harvester
This is an unsettling thought but the fact is that these butterflies are carnivorous but they do not swoop onto throat at night. The species is only fully carnivorous during its caterpillar phase, feeding on woolly aphids. Some harvester caterpillars will even cover themselves with the remains of the aphids they have consumed, tying them on with silk, perhaps providing them with protection from “predacious ants” and other scary enemies.
Apollo
It prefers to live on open and southern-facing slopes, where its favourite plants grow, and where there are usually cold winters and warm summers. The males are territorial and will run patrols of their area, running off any rival males who dare to intrude. Projects are underway to protect Apollo habitats and feeding grounds in Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Ulysses
Found in tropical rainforests in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, this is a large swallowtail butterfly also known as Mountain Blue Butterfly. With their bright blue colouring, they are easy to spot by predators, so they’ve learned to fly quickly and erratically in order to protect themselves. They usually live and fly below the rainforest canopy.
Painted Lady
This is one of the most determined butterflies when it comes to migration. Often flying low to the ground, they can cover up to 160 km per day at speeds of nearly 50 km/h (30 mph). They migrate from North Africa to Europe in populations that may include millions of butterflies. That’s a lot of company on the road or on the wing. Painted Lady butterflies are found on every continent, except Australia and Antarctica. TW
Attractive butterflies
ByIzay Ayesha
linguistics
Dated
August 2, 2022
Izay Ayesha looks at some beautiful creatures
Human heart flutters with butterflies and they are indeed a treat to watch. There are approximately 17,500 species of butterflies that never fail to fascinate the human race. Some butterflies are as large as bats and others smaller than human fingernails. Some live longer than a year and others are extinguished in a few days. Some put on art shows with their iridescent colours, while others blend into their backgrounds with camouflage colours or transparent wings. In any shape or form butterflies are an exquisite manifestation of the beauty of nature spread over the globe.
Dead Leaf
Also known as the Orange Oakleaf butterfly, the Dead Leaf is found in places ranging from Pakistan to Japan, with countries like Laos, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand in between. Like its name suggests, this species’ superpower is its dead-leaf appearance, giving it great camouflage against predators. However, when it spreads its wings, it displays a beautiful luminous colour pattern that makes it stand proud among other dazzling butterflies.
Sylphina Angel
Found in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, these butterflies usually flutter 2,000 to 3,000 m (6,500 to 10,000 ft.) high in cloud forests. They have “blue inner wings and black lined clear outer wings, black bodies, straight black antennae and bright red or white or green tails.” Sylphina Angels are solitary butterflies, usually only gathering to mate. For the most part, adults live no longer than nine months.
Question Mark
There’s no question, this is a beautiful butterfly with its black and orange colours and sharply angled wings. It likes to dine on sap, mud, fruit, dung, and carrion, and is found in woodlands, swamps, parks and residential landscapes across the United States. There is a silver mark shaped like a question mark on the underside of the butterfly’s lower wing, giving it its English and Latin name.
Harvester
This is an unsettling thought but the fact is that these butterflies are carnivorous but they do not swoop onto throat at night. The species is only fully carnivorous during its caterpillar phase, feeding on woolly aphids. Some harvester caterpillars will even cover themselves with the remains of the aphids they have consumed, tying them on with silk, perhaps providing them with protection from “predacious ants” and other scary enemies.
Apollo
It prefers to live on open and southern-facing slopes, where its favourite plants grow, and where there are usually cold winters and warm summers. The males are territorial and will run patrols of their area, running off any rival males who dare to intrude. Projects are underway to protect Apollo habitats and feeding grounds in Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Ulysses
Found in tropical rainforests in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, this is a large swallowtail butterfly also known as Mountain Blue Butterfly. With their bright blue colouring, they are easy to spot by predators, so they’ve learned to fly quickly and erratically in order to protect themselves. They usually live and fly below the rainforest canopy.
Painted Lady
This is one of the most determined butterflies when it comes to migration. Often flying low to the ground, they can cover up to 160 km per day at speeds of nearly 50 km/h (30 mph). They migrate from North Africa to Europe in populations that may include millions of butterflies. That’s a lot of company on the road or on the wing. Painted Lady butterflies are found on every continent, except Australia and Antarctica. TW
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