Luanne Castle: Poetry and Other Words (and cats!)

Two years ago I wrote a blog post called Flutter Fun about the Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale. I was there with my kids. The other day I took Mom and my uncle and aunt to visit the butterflies.

As before, they had the stunning blue morphos that are brown camouflage on the outside and bright blue when the wings are opened.

They had many new species in addition to the original beauties.

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A few butterflies pressed up against the few windows, trying to get out of the atrium. I felt sad for them, but most of the butterflies seemed to be concentrating on eating.

Hubby and I also took my aunt and uncle to Sedona and Flagstaff. Then I ended up sick afterward, probably because I managed to get myself pretty tired keeping up with an 87-year-old (my uncle who is my dad’s twin).

Scottsdale is the home of the largest butterfly atrium in the U.S. What a pleasant way to spend an hour or two on the holiday weekend.

The Butterfly Wonderland experience starts off with a 3D film that made me think I could catch butterlies in my hand as they flew past my face. That, of course, was an optical illusion.

Here is their own introduction video:

Some photos from our time at Butterfly Wonderland:

The Blue Morpho butterfly is difficult to photograph with its wings open when it lands because it tends to close up. In the photo below you can see that only the brown/black side shows when the wings are closed.

The chrysalids of the Blue Morpho are pale-green or jade-green and emit a repulsive, ultrasonic sound when touched.