3 ms·

Related: http://emilydamstra.com/news/please-enough-dead-butterflies/ http://emilydamstra.com/news/please-enough-dead-butterflies/

• Baeocystin 8y ago
  Although I am sympathetic to her point (and I do love seeing living butterflies!) I think that perhaps Magritte's The Treachery of Images (ceci n'est pas une pipe) is the appropriate response to her criticism. Butterfly's wings are spread in such a manner for display so we can see the patterns, after all, and taking a bit of artistic license in order to better satisfy a compositional need is a core concept of most creative endeavors.
• nerdponx 8y ago
  Can you explain why in these links the butterfly's wings look stretched forward? https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/8e0hj3/blue_morpho_butterfly/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/8e0hj3/... https://i.redd.it/9pex6xq0egjy.jpg https://i.redd.it/9pex6xq0egjy.jpg http://www.greenuptown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Viceroy-Butterfly.jpg http://www.greenuptown.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vicero... Just a matter of degree?
  • Baeocystin 8y ago
    They move their wings quite a bit relative to each other. Usually they do hold them a bit further back, and she explained in her blog entry. But they are capable of moving them far forward when they want. Sometimes the patterns are strikingly different when they do so. It is most noticeable in a swarm, where little flashes of different color wind up catching your eye against the background of the more general form. Almost like the flashes of silver you sometimes see in an active school of sardines or the like. And who knows? Maybe even for the same reason, as a response to similar environmental pressures!
• grasshopperpurp 8y ago
  Thanks for sharing this!