Butterfly Kisses
by Marcia Breznay
Title
Butterfly Kisses
Artist
Marcia Breznay
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Monarch butterfly on a Chaste tree bloom.
The Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly in the family. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871, where it is called the wanderer. It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom. Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.910.2 cm (34 in). Female monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the androconium in the center of each hind wing. Males are also slightly larger than female monarchs.
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The monarch is famous for its southward late summer/autumn migration from the United States and southern Canada to Mexico and coastal California, and northward return in spring, which occurs over the lifespans of three to four generations of the butterfly.
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Monarch butterflies are one of the few insects that can cross the Atlantic. They are becoming more common in Bermuda, due to increased use of milkweed as an ornamental plant in flower gardens. Monarch butterflies born in Bermuda remain year round due to the island's mild climate. Monarch butterflies are poisonous or distasteful to birds and mammals because of the presence of the cardiac glycosides contained in milkweed eaten by the larvae.
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Uploaded
September 13th, 2013
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Comments (14)
Marcia Breznay
Thanks so much to Pamela of Luther Fine Art for the feature in the group 1 A Day Waiting Room Art.