Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Butterfly Visitor

Look who posed for me in my back yard:  


I believe this is a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), a common migrating butterfly that winters here in the Sonoran desert.  

I can't help but think its coloring and patterning could be Batesian mimicry, where a perfectly edible species mimics the appearance of a poisonous or nasty-tasting species (in this case the monarch butterfly), thus deterring would-be predators.  

Whatever the case, it's beautiful.     

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