« Butterfly Rainforest - University of Florida, Gainesville »

Part of my payment for the Shands Hospital gig in Gainesville, FL was a trip to the Butterfly Rainforest museum at the University of Florida. It was a truly magical experience. They have double doors with blowing air between them on both the entrance and the exit, so the butterflies don't leave, and they ask you to take your camera out before you go in, because butterflies have been known to hitchhike in backpacks and handbags. Here's some of the butterflies I saw -- the ones I could get to pose.

One of the differences between butterflies and moths is that butterflies close their wings when they land. These kind have iridescent blue on their wings, but they close them so it's difficult to get a picture of it. Still, the underside is interesting too. The "eye" is to make them look frightening, instead of edible.

The coloration of some species mimics the coloration of others. Some butterflies are poisonous, because of what they feed on, and other species mimic the poisonous ones. It's not conscious, it's Darwinism - those that don't get eaten live to breed more.