Birdwing Butterfly I

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Spectacular Cairns Birdwing Butterfly perched on green leaves.... more

by Dawn Currie

Title

Birdwing Butterfly I

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Spectacular Cairns Birdwing Butterfly perched on green leaves.

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Butterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. The butterfly's body is covered by tiny sensory hairs. The four wings and the six legs of the butterfly are attached to the thorax. The thorax contains the muscles that make the legs and wings move.

Butterflies are very good fliers. However, they can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees. Butterflies sun themselves to warm up in cool weather. As butterflies age, the color of the wings fades and the wings become ragged.

The speed varies among butterfly species. The fastest butterflies (some skippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 5 mph.

Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rain forests.
Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the Red Admiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs) migrate thousands of miles.

Birdwing Butterflies are some of the largest butterflies in the world. They are native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and islands of Southeast Asia, and Australia. Due to their size and bright colors, they are popular among butterfly collectors, but all birdwings are now listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) thereby limiting international trade.

Uploaded

April 24th, 2013