Butterflies at Skylands

January 31, 2011

Skylands, my home in Maine, has many wonderful collections that are so much fun to pore over. Several years ago, my daughter, Alexis, had a store in the Hamptons, called the Yard Sale Shop, and she came across quite an extraordinary butterfly collection, all neatly framed and labeled as to origin, having been collected in the early 1960’s. When redecorating Skylands, I found the perfect spot to hang these frames. My friend and neighbor, David Rockefeller, was quite impressed when he saw this display.

Historically, insect collecting has been a very popular hobby, both for scientific reasons and for profit. Most types of insects, because of their hard exoskeletons, retain their appearance after death, making it easy and practical to form a collection. Because of their beauty, collecting butterflies and moths has been most popular, followed next by beetles. A butterfly collector is an entomologist who specializes in the collection and study of butterflies and moths. My preference is to let butterflies flit about freely, but I also prize this collection.

: The butterfly collection graces the mantle wall of this stately bedroom.

: The collection to the left of the fireplace

: Attacus Caesar, or Atlas moths are found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia. Considered the largest moth in the world, its wingtip looks like a snake head.

: Another collection of iridescent Morpho butterflies

: Morpho goderti are found in Peru and Bolivia

: Sulkowski oppiana, or Pearl Morpho, from Colombia – it changes color depending on the angle it’s viewed.

: The other Morpho goderti

: Argema mittrei, known as the Comet Moth, is an African moth, native to the rain forests of Madagascar. it one of the world’s largest silk moths.

: A collection of Caligo Memnon, commonly called Owl butterflies, after their huge eye spots, which resemble owls’ eyes.

: The top of the Owl butterfly’s wings are rather plain in comparison to its bottoms, which….

: Caligo Memnon are found in the rain forests and secondary forests of Mexico, Central and South America.

: Is one of the best examples of mimicry in the butterfly world. The eyes actually scare predators away. The rest of the wing even mimics owl feathers.

: This is a Queen Victoria’s Birdwing, Ornithoptera victoriae, a butterfly found in the Solomon Islands in Papua New Guinea.

: Another type of Queen Victoria’s Birdwing butterfly from the Solomon Islands

: Three neutral-toned morpho butterflies

: A Morpho Telemachus from South America

: This angelic-looking butterfly is the White Morpho from South America.

: This beauty is Morpho Hecuba Sunset from South America – the largest species in the genus morpho with a wingspan than can reach 7.9-inches

: The melaneus Blue Morpho (Morpho melaneus) is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America.

: This is a Morpho papirius from Peru.

: Morpho Aurora butterfly from Bolivia

: A Blue Morpho butterfly

: A collection of Blue Morpho butterflies

: Goliathus regius are among the largest insects, measuring 2 – 4-inches in length. They are found in many of Africa’s tropical forests, where they feed primarily on tree sap and fruit.