Many people are under the impression that butterflies are smooth, they have often large brightly wings after all and are associated with flowers and sunlight. It comes as a surprise then that butterflies are incredibly hairy.
Click the photos to see the full resolution image!
This hairy face belongs to a 5 ring butterfly, I the name must come from the number of eye-spots on the rear pair of wings since if the front pair are included it brings the eye-spot count up to 7! Eye-spots are used to mimic the eyes of the predator of the predator of the butterfly, or sometimes to provide a target that will not fataly incapacitate the butterfly as it flies away from the attack.
Slightly farther away from the butterfly; we can see the wonderfully bright eye-spots for which this butterfly is named:
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Do you have similar butterflies where you live?