Inevitablely while one is out hunting for wildflowers one also finds their best friends the insects and particularly the butterflies. You truly can’t have one without the other. So here are some of my better shots. Most are taken with a zoom lens and an extension tube so that the butterfly will fill the frame. It is almost impossible to use a tripod under these circumstances and one must resort to higher shutter speeds. This combination also produces a very narrow depth of field and the accompanying difficulty of keeping the entire insect in focus. You can literally expend an entire afternoon chasing a single butterfly but the results can be very rewarding.
Since I am a scientist I like identifying my subject both by common and scientific name. However, I am not an entomologist. If you should happen to notice that I have misnamed one of my subjects, please let know. TWH