Winter Butterflies

BEFORE MANY OF THEM ARE WIPED OUT by shopping malls, pesticides or human indifference, I spent last week chasing butterflies across south Florida with my pal Josh Lincoln. We encountered 44 butterfly species, including that federally endangered Bartram’s Scrub-Hairstreak pictured above.

So here in New England, with odd winter warmth on the way, I offer you a glittering slideshow from Florida — until our own flood of butterfly light greets us in a couple more months. By the way, when you come upon Atala (Eumaeus atala) in the slide show below, including its blue jewels and shocking orange abdomen, you might decide to sell your house, become a lepidopterist and dedicate your life to these spectacular animals. Below is Josh in the good company of the tiny Baracoa Skipper (Polites baracoa).

Ruddy Daggerwing (Marpesia petreus)

Eurema daira