Newly Discovered Butterfly Species lives up to its Name.

Hey ya'll

Today is supposed to be my day off! The university actually closed for the Easter Break starting Monday but I have been going back into the office like clockwork to get some work done. Try as I might, though, this hasn't been a very productive week  and I'll be lucky if I finish 7 readings by next Monday (which would make a minimum of one text a day). Meanwhile, I was trolling the virtual insecto-sphere when I came across an interesting little picture of a very beautiful butterfly.

This butterfly is called the Resplendant forester (bebearia sp.) and was apparently discovered quite recently during 2012 in Africa. Isn't it a vision? In my opinion it is almost beautiful enough to rival the Madagascan sunset moth (Chrysiridia ripheus). The bebearia are a group of butterflies that fall under the genus of brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) which generally possess brightly colored patterns on the dorsal surfaces of their wings, with a subdued more cryptic coloration on its ventral surfaces for purposes of camouflage when the butterfly is not in motion or at rest. As per the name of its genus, the butterflies have severely reduce forelegs that resemble miniature paint brushes giving them the appearance of possessing no more than four legs. Other notable bebearia sp. are the Shiny green forester (Bebearia barce), and Hewitson's forester (Bebearia tentyris). I wonder when it will be my turn to discover a previously undescribed/unheard of species. Hmmm. I guess until then all I can do is focus on the project at hand.

Happy Thursday everyone!
Cyren