Butterfly Exhibition

Rice paper - Idea leucone

Here are more photos from my visit to the

Montreal Botanical Indoor Butterfly Exhibition.

As  you can see there are plenty of plants

for the butterflies to perch on.

Fruits are set out, stacked one on top of the other

allowing us to watch (and photograph) the butterflies that drank the nectar.

There are a number of water features as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the soothing sound of the water as it gurgled over the stones into the pond.

Small troides - Troides rhadamantus

Below is a butterfly nursery.

The butterflies you see dangling above, have emerged from their cocoons and are waiting for their wings to harden.

It's hard to believe that one side of their wings is the colour above, while the other side is this stunning blue colour (below).

Blue morpho - Morpho helenor

Having spent the last 5 months with Winter's whiteness,

these vivid colours were a wonderful treat for my eyes.

Dryadula phaetusa

The butterflies glide freely throughout the two storey room,

stopping for a break on whatever is closest:

a camera, a head, jacket, even a pant leg!

Monarch - Danaus plexus

I call the photo below: Colour Explosion

Tailed jay - Graphium agamemnon

By comparison,

Cobra moth - Attacus atlas

 this gorgeous Cobra moth was easy to miss

as it blended so well with the branches and trees it chose to perch on.

Common Mormon - Papilio polytes

Some of the butterflies had tattered wings, a sad reminder

of how fragile they are and how short their lifespan is.

The Exhibit was thoughtful enough to provide us with an identity sheet

for 32 of the butterfly and moth species present.

The one above and below were not named and I have no idea what they are.

I'll settle for calling them both: Beautiful!

On Wednesday I'll feature some of the flowers

that I saw in the greenhouses along the way :)