These
butterflies can be Found in or near orchards, gardens, roads, and other sunny
openings. They are found almost everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains.
These pictures
were taken in early October in the
Standing Stone State Forest in Middle
Tennessee.
As you can see in these pictures, the top side of this butterflies wings
are extremely colorful. However, the underside of the question marks wings are
earth tone colors that allow it to blend in perfectly with a variety of
surroundings making them nearly invisible to potential predators.
During the summer months the blue outline on the wing is generally
not as prominent and the lower section of the wings (seen as a bright orange
rust color here) are a darker more red-brown color.
This
butterfly really
seemed to enjoy whatever was coming out of this oak tree. They get their name from the silver colored curving mark
with a dot below that form a "question mark" on the underside of wings.
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