The Missoula Butterfly House & Insectarium is a magical place, filled with butterflies from North and South America, Asia and Africa in a habitat that keeps the many represented species thriving. Moose took me there last year and I discovered that photographing butterflies is not easy: not only does it require deep concentration, it requires lightning fast reflexes. I also discovered that the camera’s autofocus system tends to focus on the wings. Of course the wings are what make butterflies, well, butterflies. But butterflies are critters and because they are critters, they have eyes and, like photographs of all critters, the eyes must be in focus. I had taken quite a few images before I realized that I had lots of images with tack sharp wings but not so many with tack sharp eyes. Fortunately, I recognized my mistake early. That doesn’t mean that all of my subsequent images had tack sharp eyes. Far from it. But knowing I had to concentrate on getting the eye and not get distracted by the bedazzling colors of the wings helped me get more than if I hadn’t recognized the problem early on.
These two butterflies are both members of the genus Heliconius, also known as longwing butterflies, a large group of butterflies from South America. The first, Heliconius Numata, is showing a bit of wear and tear in its wings. The second, with closed wings, is also a Heliconius but it is known as the Postman. It got is name from its unique feeding behavior where it follows a predictable daily route, not unlike a postman, to visit specific flowers.