Butterflies at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

[Solly Mack]

1. Nice

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Thanks, dear Solly Mack!

[Butterflylady]

3. Butterflies take the soul to heaven.

What a amazing creature.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Glad you enjoyed, my dear Butterflylady!

They were indeed amazing.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. We lucked out.

This is August in the desert that is Los Angeles, and it's HOT. This morning, as we entered the outdoor NHM butterfly pavilion, it was overcast - a condition we expect on the coast, but not in downtown LA. There was still plenty of light for photography, but no direct sunlight. Just as we were being ejected from the exhibit (to make room for the next batch of visitors), the damn sun came out from behind the clouds. Suddenly it was unbearably hot. That was excellent timing.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. We did luck out! It was still plenty bright, even with the overcast.

And I had thought 30 minutes wouldn't be anywhere nearly enough time....turns out 20 minutes was enough.

The space was small so they really did have to restrict the numbers.

And didn't we have a blast?

[many a good man]

5. Those are awesome. Wonder what kinds they are?

We started raising Monarchs this year and have had a lot of success. Our first, Rodrigo, emerged last week and is off flying around. Now we have six in chrysalis, 3 instars, 3 caterpillars, and another 3 caterpillars that are still on the milkweed.

Here's Rodrigo about 1-2 hours after metamorphosis

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. That's a gorgeous shot, my dear many a good man!

They had a guide for identification, but I was way too busy trying to get photos to look at it.

Thank you for sharing your lovely photo, and for enjoying mine.

[many a good man]

9. Did you know some butterflies

have taste buds on the bottom of their feets?

Rodrigo was blissing out when he first stepped into a Budleia!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. I didn't know that, but it makes sense. They do stand on the flowers. Amazing!

[Lionel Mandrake]

11. Most of the kinds of butterfly on display are native to California.

There were pictures of all the different kinds of butterflies on display, but after a while I gave up on trying to identify them. There was a great variety of colors and patterns. Like birds (but unlike moths, from which they evolved), butterflies tend to be brightly colored. Sometimes the colors are for camouflage, sometimes to help find mates, and sometimes to scare away predators, either by simulating large eyes (as if on a larger animal) or as a warning that I don't taste good.

The only kinds I recognized were the monarchs. I couldn't tell a male from a female monarch, even in the pictures at the exhibit - which is strange, because the pictures of males and females in the Wikipedia article "Monarch Butterfly" look very different.

[Callalily]

12. Very nice photos Peggy!

Butterflies are difficult to photograph, as well you know!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Thank you so much, my dear Callalily!

They ARE! They keep flying around and taking poses that don't work in my photos. I took 48 photos and these are the best ones.

I was hoping to get the classic shot of the butterfly in profile on a magnificent flower, but no such luck. I'm still happy with these!