White Monarchs (nivosus) have been found throughout the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the United States. Generally, nivosus is extremely rare with only a few being reported each year. The exception is Hawaii where its frequency has recently reached 10% (Vane-Wright 1997).
The purple copper butterfly is one of Australia's rarest butterfly species and is only found in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. Its habitat is restricted to elevations above 900 metres.
Blue is the rarest occurring colour in nature, with no true blue pigments in plants. In some ways, blue butterflies are natures way of completing the colour spectrum. From South American wonders to local Tropical icons, here's some stunning blue butterflies from around the world…
Monarch. It's the world's most famous kind of butterfly. The monarch is renowned for its migration, when multiple generations work their way north during spring and summer, then a fall generation flies all the way to southern Mexico or to the California coast to spend the winter.
I have always enjoyed the Monarch butterfly. They are so beautiful and seem so majestic. They are called the king of the butterflies and I agree that, at least from my perspective, they are just that.
Tirumala petiverana, the blue monarch, African blue tiger or dappled monarch, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in tropical Africa. The habitat consists of Afromontane, lowland and riverine forests.
The male purple emperor is a stunning butterfly with a brilliant purple sheen. Look for it feeding around the treetops in woodlands, or on damp ground, animal droppings or even carrion in the morning.
The Rainbow Butterfly is an extremely rare, attractive butterfly that lives deep in the Rainbow Butterfly Wood. It is attracted to the scent of the Lafrescia Flower.
The Cairns Birdwing butterfly is the largest of all Australian butterflies and found along northeastern Australia from Mackay to Cooktown.
The Purple Emperor is rare among butterflies.
In summer, the Monarch Butterfly is common along the east coast of Australia from Queensland to South Australia, and in south-west Western Australia. They like the warmth, so as the days get colder, some will leave for warmer regions.
Monarch butterflies also known as the king of butterflies possess 12000 eyes, which helps them to see in all directions.
While monarchs and longwing butterflies have gold specs, we often have species of butterflies that decided to have even more swagger by making their chrysalids appear to be solid gold.
Although butterflies with solid black coloring are uncommon, there's no shortage of mostly black butterflies. And you don't need to travel to some exotic tropical locale to find them. They're well represented in the United States.
The Pink Rose (Pachliopta kotzebuea) is a butterfly of the Papilionidae family. It is found in the Philippines.
There are many species of “rainbow butterflies” and they live in different places around the world. Genera include Chrysiridia, Alcides, and Urania, each with several species. These are in the same sub- family, Uraniinae. Most of these are poisonous if eaten.
The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies in the world, with wings spanning from five to eight inches. Their vivid, iridescent blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.
Their green hemolymph (blood) dries to black scabs. If a chrysalis has bled a little bit or has been damaged even a small amount, the dried blood can cause bright black marks and spots. The black of OE in a chrysalis is under the cuticle. It is a muted black color.
Distribution. The Blue Triangle Butterfly is found in Eastern Australia, from Torres Strait and Cape York in Queensland to about 160 km south of Sydney.
There's another butterfly out there that's disguised as a monarch. Viceroy butterflies look exactly like monarchs to the untrained observer. Viceroys "mimic" monarchs in appearance. This is a strategy to avoid predation.
"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" is a quotation from Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" of January 1735. It alludes to "breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tied to a Catherine wheel.
The young (called a nymph) usually look like small adults but without the wings. Butterflies, moths, beetles, flies and bees have complete metamorphosis. The young (called a larva instead of a nymph) is very different from the adults.
The queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus) is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae with a wingspan of 80–85 mm (31⁄8–33⁄8 in).