Portrait of the Butterfly

June 14, 2024|American Landscape and Parks

A sure sign of spring is the appearance of the butterflies, as they fly from one bloom to another. This vision to our human eyes is another example of the gifts of nature. 

Most of the images captured in this blog were taken at a special exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. For several years the Garden has featured butterflies within the arboretum area. The reaction of visitors is not unlike that seen at other epic landscape locations. People of all ages marvel at the movement and color of countless butterfly species. 

The butterlfly portraits below are described in generic terms namely because there are among over 150,000 individual species. 

Morpho Peleides

Perception of Time

The wings of the butterfly are a beautiful canvas for our eyes, yet provide defenses from much larger predators. During the butterfly’s life they metamorphose from an egg to a caterpillar and finally a butterfly. They manage to reproduce along the way.  They are very interesting creatures!

Although the butterfly has existed and propagated since prehistoric times, an individual butterfly’s entire life cycle lasts only a few months. They live in a moment of time just as we do. The natural landscape which we celebrate has evolved for an incomprehensible amount of time. In a larger sense our lives on earth are short also, just like the butterfly. 

Papilio Memnon

Cethosia Cyane

Heliconius Melpomene

Tiger Longwing Heliconius

Thanks for viewing my collection of butterflies. Please contribute any knowledge about these beautiful creatures. More recent photography is available at our website. https://photobykercho.com  

Between now and August I will be searching for few more shots featuring landscapes at sunrise and sunset.  Hope to share them with you then.