tags: blue butterfly, Image of the Day
The large blue butterfly, Maculinea arion, made its earliest recorded appearance at Collard Hill, Somerset, UK, on 2 June. The National Trust-owned site is the only place in the UK where the public have access to see the nation's rarest butterfly.
Image: Butterfly Conservation [larger]
GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 





















Comments
Whoa. That is gorgeous.
Posted by: The Ridger | June 6, 2007 5:51 PM
That is one of the most beautiful butterflies I've ever seen.
Posted by: Joared | June 7, 2007 3:39 AM
American species of Blues tend to be diminutive, requiring close-focus binoculars or a macro photo to get the field marks (I do not net butterflies). One of the pleasures of participating in the Houston July 4 NABA butterfly count in 2006 was the large numbers of Ceraunus Blues we found along White Oak Bayou a short distance north of the North 610 Loop. Eastern Tailed Blues were always a sign of spring in late March in Northern Virginia as they nectared on Henbit flowering in lawns.
Posted by: biosparite | June 7, 2007 10:41 AM