The kids found a butterfly in the backyard today. It let them hold it for quite a while so they were able to study it closely and I was able to get some good pictures of it.
The undersides of the wings look like a dead leaf. God designed this natural camouflage to protect it from predators.
The top of the wings are orange with black trim and four large black dots across the top part of each wing.
The butterfly didn't seem to be injured but he didn't try to fly away. We thought maybe he was thirsty so we got a new kitchen sponge and soaked it in water. Do you see the red line going from his mouth to the sponge? That is his proboscis! It is a tube-like appendage that they use like a straw to sip nectar, tree sap, or in this case, water.
It didn't take long to research what kind of butterfly this is. It is called a Question Mark butterfly. It can be identified by the colors and four dots on the top wings. However, it gets its name from the little white "question mark" on the underside of its wing. We had never heard of this butterfly before so it was really interesting to spend some time learning about him.
He flew away shortly after sipping the water and he seemed to be doing just fine when he left.
For more information about butterflies, check out these websites:
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