Wednesday, August 03, 2011

A Tangle of Butterflies...

I captured this curious behavior on a walk around the property recently. It seemed like half a dozen butterflies had all gathered around a single spot. There weren't any flowers or what I'd assume was their regular food source. They just all seemed to be tangled around each other. By the time I ran upstairs to grab my camera to take the picture, part of them were gone... but some of them were still there, crawling together over a single spot, a mass of fluttering wings.

7 comments:

Tracy said...

Sounds like a great name for a piece of jewelry! "A Tangle of Butterflies"...
:)

jamberry_song said...

Very interesting and very beautiful. :) Nature and her mysteries...

Anyway, I totally agree with Tracy. It's perfect!

Kathleen Lange Klik said...

Beautiful shot! Was there any mud on the ground under/near them? If there was, then it means they were drinking the water in the mud. Also known as mud puddling. Sounds weird, but butterflies absorb nutrients through the water in mud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud-puddling

I photographed a large group of the same butterflies (swallowtail) with a 200mm lens and could see them actually drinking the water! Nature really is awesome and inspiring!

Therese's Treasures said...

They are beautiful butterflies I love the colors in the one with the dark wings. Only Mother Natures knows why they were huddled in one spot. Maybe it was some kind of butterfly mating thing. Great photo!
Therese

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photo!

somethingunique said...

Hi Andrew, great photo, what pretty butterflys, i really miss you and can't wait for things to slow down so i can get back to a normal pace take care ttfn Lana :)

Kiki said...

This is a beautiful picture, but the reason for their gathering might be because they are consuming fecal matter. I've seen other swallowtails do this before. The circle of life at work, indeed!