A long journey

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Painted lady butterfly damaged 3.jpg

This is how butterflies look like after hundreds of km of flight.

Painted lady butterflies are known for their migration between continents. Thousands of km (up to 14000) and few generations every year to reach their destinations. Pretty amazing for such delicate insect.

Painted lady butterfly damaged 4.jpg

In spring I could see few of those with damaged wings fling around the lavender. They are still doing ok, though I could tell they have to put more energy into flapping the wings.

The pretty butterflies are pretty (damn, I am witty or what?), but the damaged ones have a character and a story or two to tell.
If they could talk.

Painted lady butterfly damaged 1.jpg

I managed to shoot a few types of butterflies on the bushes around, but only this type had the wings in such poor state.

Painted lady butterfly damaged 2.jpg

Painted lady butterfly damaged 5.jpg

A guest bumblebee :)

bumblebee lavender garden pl.jpg

Painted lady butterfly damaged 6.jpg

»«
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.



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20 comments
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pixresteemer_incognito_angel_mini.png
Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
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„..gdy trzymasz mnie za rękę,
to nawet w starej ładnie mi sukience”

yy, a nieważne.

🦋

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🍷

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pretty motylek
i pretty ładnie o nim odpowiedziałaś 🍷

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Looks like he's been through hell and back. I wonder if they have any nerve endings in their wings or if they don't notice the tatters.

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He does. I was surprised to see him still being able to fly, but he was pretty good at it.
About the nerves, I found this:

Butterflies do not feel pain. Although butterflies know when they are touched, their nervous system does not have pain receptors that registers pain so this procedure did not cause the butterfly stress or pain.
source

Learned something new :)

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This is absolutely fascinating and I had no idea. This is the stuff of superheroes or could be massively problematic if you think about it. These butterflies must have seen a lot with their battle scars.

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Fascinating and marvelous creature. Didn't know they travel that far. Learned something new today again 😊

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Not all butterflies migrate I think. This one is a champ :D

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Their wings get beat up!
Can you imagine what they go through during their travels!
Poor things!

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Hell, storm, winds and probably bird attack.
Pretty bashed.

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Oh, poor schmetterling , but even with damaged wings, it is are pretty 🦋

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You say schmetterling and I keep hearing Messerschmitt 😂

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Who loves butterflies, loves them, even if they are tired and spoiled. Thanks @ewkaw

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Very true!
Thanks for stopping by :)

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Oh wow!! I never knew they were migratory. That's incredible. No wonder, the poor little guys are in tators..

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Amazing what such tiny thing can do, right?
I read that they fly on high altitude and it took a while to actually figure out that they do migrate such long distances. Pretty cool :D

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Really cool! I love that sort of thing.

There are salmon that migrate back thousands of miles every year to specific rivers in Ireland to lay their eggs. They can detect the earth's magnetic field to orientate them and then when they are close they use smell in the water to find the little stream or tributary where life began for them and lay their eggs. Amazing really. I think I'll do a post about it!

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