Tagged With: Wing

Monarch Wing

Underneath one of the buddleias in our back garden I found the remains of a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Just last Friday I had photos of a monarch caterpillar (see Friday, September 11). This is the other end of the life cycle, the death of an adult butterfly. Monarchs are quite widespread, being found throughout much of North and South America (and apparently have been introduced in Australia). The color on the wings of a butterfly are made up of very small scales. In the full size version of this image, they are visible, especially in the orange areas.