Butterflies, Moths and Orchids

African Luna Moth (photo credits Renee Harris)

   Last week when I was in DC doing the Smithsonian Craft Show, (after I set up my booth and before the Wednesday night preview party), I had time to go to a few museums. First stop for my friend Renee and I was the museum of natural history. Renee gets credit for all the photos as I forgot my camera back in the hotel.
   We were in the Butterfly Pavilion where butterflies and moths flitter around, landing on flowers, fruits and visitors. There were so many flying around, we kept saying "look at that one", "omg, look at that one".
   In the above photo, notice how the tips of the African Luna moth's wings cross. This species isn't as big as our American version, but the color is similar.

Great Mormon Swallowtail

  

Atlas Moth

    How cool is this Atlas moth from southeast Asia! Look at the tips of the wings, the pattern looks like snake heads.

Great Egg-fly Butterfly

Banded Orange Butterfly

Blue Glassy Tiger Butterfly in foreground

    After we left the Butterfly Pavilion, we went to the Ochids, A View from the East Exhibit. According to Wikipedia, orchids compromise the second largest family of flowering plants with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species found in 880 genera. The number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species and  about four times the number of mammal species.

      A really nice selection of some beautiful orchids.