Exploring Nature: Beautiful B utterflies
If you get really up close and personal with a butterfly, you might be surprised at what you’ll find.
For example, male butterflies have scent scales on their forewings, which attract female butterflies.
Certain butterfly species have eyespots on their wings that look like the eyes of a hungry predator. These spots help scare off other critters that might eat the butterfly.
The antenna on a butterfly’s head is helpful in picking up chemical scents. They also help the butterfly determine wind directions and even help with balance.
A butterfly’s proboscis looks like a long tongue, but is actually a tube to draw nectar from flowers.
Butterflies have feet that help them taste plants. These sensitive feet also help this intelligent little insect correctly identify the correct host plants to lay eggs on.
Like hummingbirds, butterflies fly in a figure-eight pattern.
Summer is a great time to enjoy butterflies in Texas. Some of the most common types include Gulf fritillary, queen, variegated fritillary, Monarch, long-tailed skipper, American snout, black swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail and giant swallowtail.
The five most rare butterfly species are bay checkerspot, Fender’s blue, crystal skipper, Miami blue and Saint Francis satyr.
The most beautiful butterfly I have ever seen was a blue morpho which I spotted in a Brazilian rainforest. It practically glowed in the dark and I’ll never forget it.
