Butterfly Experiments....

My kids found a swallowtail butterfly that was seemingly injured or stunned. They pleaded with me asking to bring it into the house in a plastic shoebox without the lid. I did allow it, which surprised everybody.... especially since there was no lid.  The poor thing stayed in one place not even eating or drinking what they offered.... and the kids knew it liked my dill and parsley, so they offered that. It just stayed still.

 This was great for them to be able to study the butterfly up close... all the little veins, hairs, reflective spots... it was very interesting.

 The colors were amazing and seemed to glow in certain light...


The butterfly continued to stay in one place but willingly went on to someone's finger when they tried to pick it up. Again it just stayed there.

They continued to notice the unique coloring.... and they had an idea........

What about adding light? 
They used a blue laser light and the wings shone beautifully...



Details showed up and they noticed even more about the butterfly than they had in regular light.


The colors were amazing....

In this picture they used a white LED light to shine on the wings.... the colors really stand out.

We found out that there are reflectors... scales that are transparent and act as mirrors to reflect the light.

There is even some florescent pigment on them which explains why they seem to glow.

 He actually looked almost furry....
and look at that long proboscis all rolled up there... we enjoyed seeing this up close like this.....

What an amazing creature....

SOOOOO, if a blue laser light made it look great......

 What about a RED laser light?  :)

With the red light, you can see some scars on the wing....

The red was interesting, but not nearly as much as the blue had been... or the clear light.

 Still, it was fun to see and use the red light....

 Notice how the wing veins show several colors here.... must have been some effect with the light.

My oldest son visited while the butterfly was recuperating in our house.... and his comment was something to the effect of "You never let us bring those in the house when I was in school."  :)   Yes, I surprised my family.... and it was good....

It is amazing how much detail, how much of God's creativity is evident in this one butterfly... what an amazing creature... what an amazing Creator.

I am reminded that if God cared enough to put so many seemingly insignificant details in one very temporary creature... He obviously is a great designer... and has a plan...  and I am thankful His plan included saving me.... and all who accept Him as Savior.  What a  blessing.

Thank you for visiting my blog today....


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