Tucson, San Antonio, and New Orleans — Photo-Artistry by kenne
"And hear the sounds he knew of yore,
Old shufflings on the sanded floor,
Old knuckles tapping at the door?
"Yet still before him as he flies
One pallid form shall ever rise,
And, bodying forth in glassy eyes
"The vision of a vanished good,
Low peering through the tangled wood,
Shall freeze the current of his blood."
Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) — Image by kenne
So, I begin researching articles on butterfly color and found “The evolution of color: How butterfly wings can shift in hue” in ScienceDaily. They found that buckeyes and other Junonia species can create a rainbow of structural colors simply by tuning the thickness of the wing scale’s bottom layer (the lamina), which creates iridescent colors in the same way a soap bubble does.
“In each Junonia species, structural color came from the lamina. And they are producing a big range of lamina thicknesses that create a rainbow of different colors, everything from gold to magenta to blue to green,” says first author Rachel Thayer. “This helps us understand how structural color has evolved over millions of years.” You can find more information structured color at Marine Biological Laboratory. (Please note, I’m a photographer, not a biologist.)
The great thing is not having a mind. Feelings: oh, I have those; they govern me. I have a lord in heaven called the sun, and open for him, showing him the fire of my own heart, fire like his presence. What could such glory be if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters, were you like me once, long ago, before you were human? Did you permit yourselves to open once, who would never open again? Because in truth I am speaking now the way you do. I speak because I am shattered.
Two Leaves On A Bench — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Sonoran Desert Sunset — Photo-Artistry by kenne
