Heliconius sp.

Heliconius sp., originally uploaded by Turtelle.

Went to the Callaway Gardens butterfly house last week. I'm not sure what species this is other than that it is some type of longwing. It didn't match any of the species in the little guides that were provided. A couple of butterflies seemed to be obsessed with laying eggs on my camera, which was pretty strange. I wonder if these butterfly houses are allowed to provide them with their appropriate host plants. I'm pretty sure that they have to buy chrysales from licensed dealers and it may be illegal to breed exotic butterflies, so not providing host plants would prevent successful breeding.

Its great to be able to observe so many individuals of species I wouldn't otherwise see. Photographing them is still a challenge, even though they are in captivity, but not quite as difficult as photographing them in the wild. It was Blue Morpho Month, but I'm not sure that I got any Blue Morpho pictures. I got numerous photos of what I think are Owl Butterflies, a species that looks somewhat similar, and is even blue on the dorsal surface, but I'm no lepidopterist...