Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mr. Madame Butterfly

A butterfly, mounted on a glass panel. I took this photo during a recent visit with my family to the Simply Butterflies Conservation Center in the town of Bilar in Bohol. The butterfly farm is among the growing number of butterfly sanctuaries dotting the island of Bohol, and is among the stops when you go on one of those regular day tours to the island-province's top tourist attractions. The farm keeps just a modest collection of both live and mounted butterflies, but is staffed by incredibly knowledgeable tour personnel who, during our visit, succeeded in making us realize how ignorant we were of many things about these amazing creatures.

Did you know that assymetrical patterns on a butterfly's wings signify its sex is neither male nor female but, well, somewhere in between?