Blue Morphos, attracted to orange slices in Mexico. 

Ever since I read A.S. Byatt’s Morpho Eugenia, a novella included in her book compilation Angels & Insects, I have been fascinated by the Blue Morpho butterfly. So, when I went to Mexico and encountered a butterfly farm, you can bet I seized the opportunity to see some amazing winged friends.

Here, you can see three Blue Morpho butterflies with wings closed. 

What is tricky about capturing the striking color of this butterfly’s cobalt wings is that they appear perfectly drab, a mottled shade of brown with eye spots that resemble those on the backs of ears of tiger cubs. One wonders if this is nature’s way to deter predators, as they are less likely to strike or attack prey that is looking at them.

At the farm, there were stations where oranges were quartered and set out to attract the butterflies, as you can see in the above image. I had to take quite a few shots to get the timing just right to capture the spectacular display of those blue wings.

This image shows the treasure of color of the Blue Morpho, painted by Martin Johnson Heade. 

There’s the memorable scene in Byatt’s novella when the Victorian naturalist William Adamson (play on words here as “Adam’s son,” connecting to human origins and stewardship of all creatures) surprises Eugenia Alabaster by bringing her into a room full of butterflies that alight on her head, gloved arms, & dress, covering her. She takes delight in this experience, & it’s a moment when William can share his love of entomology with this lady he feels is way out of his league, socially.

William names one type of the butterflies, the Morpho Eugenia, for Eugenia as an act of love. Given the tremendous success, he feels triumphant.

Sadly, William awkwardly attempts this same experiment with Eugenia again, only with moths this time, with terrible results. Her horror in being swarmed by fuzzy-bodied, alien-looking, winged creatures of the night creates a scene of fear and rejection. William’s fate seems sealed at that point, in a moment of foreshadowing of their doomed future together.

 Chrysalises of butterflies, with one freshly emerged. 

At the farm, I’ve made it a point to plant many perennials that will attract butterflies, bees, and birds. Shades of blue and purple are of particular interest to butterflies, & we have a good deal of milkweed naturally growing in the wild fields that will attract Monarch butterflies (one of my favorites). I remember a kindergarten experiment we did with a mason jar, milkweed, & a Monarch chrysalis, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. So, Monarchs mean happiness to me.

As a girl, my mother gave me the book Hope for the Butterflies & it was one of my favorites; I still own it. So, you could say butterflies have always held some fascination for me. If you haven’t read this book, you might enjoy it, as it inspires incredible hope & sends a powerful message. It really is lovely, just like the butterflies themselves.