Bejeweled Butterfly

Hey ya'll 

I would like to express my utmost gratitude and appreciation today, (as well as a million "thank yous" and "I love it very much-s"), to Jeremy Soon, who agreed to bedazzle my rather plain-looking Nintendo DS with rhinestone stickers. Acknowledging my love for all things creepy and crawly we agreed that the subject of his magnificent artwork should be an insect of some sort and although my original idea was to have a gold and black nephilla spider emblazoned across the enamel white gaming device, he eventually settled on one of my favorite butterfly species of all time... Priam's Green Birdwing or as it is known among us lepidopterist; Ornithoptera priamus. 

The artwork of the butterfly that was used as a reference.

I don't know exactly, how long the actual process took... but suffice to say, his deft hands and nimble fingers managed to complete the paint-staking job of sticking down the rhinestones pretty much in one day. The other challenge was perhaps the lack of colors of rhinestones available (and of course there are various shades of green on the Priamus butterfly) but I daresay that Jeremy captured the essence of the insect nonetheless. 

The artist at work... 

And all done!!!

Just some background on the butterfly: Priam's green birdwing butterfly is found on the islands of New Guinea and is perhaps one of the more variable of the birdwing species with individual subspecies displaying varying shades of green and/or blue wings. Female butterflies are significantly larger than male specimens but, like other butterflies of the birdwing family, are duller colored in comparison and do not possess the iridescence of the males. Of all the birdwing butterflies, it is one of the most widespread but is constantly threatened by habitat loss and destruction.
 

A live ornithoptera priamus that I encountered 6 years ago

As you can see, the butterfly is rather beautiful and I'm actually quite glad that we changed the idea from the original Nephila spider to the birdwing butterfly instead. 

Jeremy's capturing of the butterfly.

I rather fancy that the rhinestones that Jeremy uses for his artwork capture the iridescence of the real butterflies. 

Cheers,
Cyren