Butterflies and More

haggisjim
Aug 8, 2017
2 min read

My sister and her husband came to visit for a couple of days and so we took them to a couple of our favourite attractions. These are some of the images from our outing...

First up, the Butterfly House. It's located in a local greenhouse, where they do a great job in providing a relaxing atmosphere and a variety of butterflies and other critters. This is an Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)...

Atlas Moths (Attacus atlas) are huge. They don't feed on anything during their 1 - 2 week lifespan, surviving solely on larval fat reserves. The markings resemble a snake head, which tends to ward off predators. This one had just emerged from its cocoon...

There are several species of butterfly named "Mormon", although they don't show up at church much (at least I haven't seen one). This one is a female Scarlet Mormon (Papilio rumanzovia)...

This is a Paper Kite (ldea leuconoe) also known as the rice paper or large tree nymph...

This guy (a male Scarlet Mormon) decided to hitch a ride for a while. No matter what I did, it wouldn't get off me. I believe it must've been at the end of its life cycle because when I physically removed it, it couldn't fly...

This is an Autumn Leaf butterfly (Doleschallia bisaltide). When at rest with its wings closed, it looks like a leaf, hence the name...

And this is what an Autumn Leaf butterfly looks like when it has its wings open hitching a ride on an Emydidae (also known as a pond, or marsh, turtle)...

This is a male Pin Tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura). You can tell he's a male from the size of his tail. I also thought he had a cool name. He stayed perched here, observing us the entire time. (Yes, he was definitely alive... I saw him blink and turn his head a few times while I took his photograph.)

There are a few White Button Quail (couldn't find their full name, but they are from the genus Coturnix) wandering around, but they make themselves scarce at the slightest noise or fast movements. These little guys are even smaller than the normal-sized quail so they're only raised as pets, not for eating...

And seriously... how could I let someone visit Medicine Hat without a trip out to Red Rock Coulee? This time out I decided only to shoot some extremely close macro shots. The first two shots are of lichen (Xanthoria parietina), which can be found on all the rocks, adding to the red glow at sunset...