17 August 2010

Butterflies are tough


Everyone thinks of them as delicate creatures, but butterflies are remarkably resilient - capable of flying when major portions of the wings have been broken off or worn away, capable of surviving outdoors in 40-below-zero winter weather.  And, as this video demonstrates, capable of surviving under unusual circumstances.  The video is low-resolution, but it looks to me to be an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, which is a large and vigorous butterfly.

Context: "A dragonfly attacks a butterfly midair, and they land in the creek. As the butterfly struggles to escape, a nearby snapping turtle notices the two and comes in for a closer look..."

3 comments:

  1. Have you seen the current National Geographic?

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  2. Noooo...

    I just peeked online. There's a beautiful photoessay about insect eggs. Is that what you're referring to?

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  3. yes. sorry for being so cryptic.

    ReplyDelete