What do you call a group of butterflies? I have always been fascinated by the collective nouns that we use in English for groups of creatures. I was delighted to learn that one of the collective nouns used for butterflies is a kaleidoscope.
“A kaleidoscope of butterflies” seems to be the perfect descriptor for this group of beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) that I spotted yesterday. They appeared to be engaged in a behavior known as “puddling,” during which the butterflies, most often the males, gather minerals and other nutrients from the soil or other organic material.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Wow Mike! That is Very Cool! Never saw 4 like that!
I think there might have been another one or two in the group that came and went. I never did see if there was anything special on which they were feeding. Some butterflies, I know, are attracted to animal scat.
Wonderful!
Quite the catch and shot. 👏👏👏
Stunning!
That is a stunning shot, Mike! Well done!
Kaleidoscope – now that fits rather wonderfully.
I really like the way this image contains both the uniformity of the patterns of their wings and then the visual clutter of the intersecting angles. And once again you have educated me as I had no idea that kaleidoscope was a collective noun for butterflies. I love it!
I hadn’t heard that either; what an appropriate term. Wouldn’t it be fun to put a transparency of this at the end of a traditional kaleidoscope?!
It definitely would be fun to look through the image with a traditional kaleidoscope. They were so common when I was growing up, but I don’t even know if they are still around or are part of a child’s normal experience these days.
Beautiful😊
This is such a striking image, Mike!
Thanks, Chris. It was a treat to see multiple butterflies together and I was fortunate to get a shot with their bodies and wings in interesting positions.
I was unaware of a kaleidoscope of butterflies, but I love it. (Your image too!) Do you have https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/298626/an-exaltation-of-larks-by-james-lipton/
This book is a must-have for anyone fascinated by group names for animals in English.
One that isn’t in there is “a story-telling (rather than a murder) of crows”. I really like that one!
It seems like there are multiple collective nouns for all kinds of creatures, most of which are not in common usage. In this case, “kaleidoscope” seemed to be a perfect descriptor for the assemblage of colorful butterflies.
We have seen the puddling many times in the Smoky’s. Love it! Missing it this year 😦
What a fascinating kaleidoscope of butterflies Michael. Thank you for sharing your gift of both nature and photography. Glad to be sharing prayer with you.
Thanks, John-Richard. It is definitely cool to be able to share a bit of ourselves beyond the Zoom screen. 🙂