ALTculture 9/2018: FOR THE LOVE OF BUTTERFLIES

ALTculture 9/2018: FOR THE LOVE OF BUTTERFLIES IN SOUTHERN GEORGIA By Richard Roche Twenty years ago a young man in southern Georgia in the USA chased a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly through a field of flowers until he captured it in his butterfly net. After softly crushing the butterfly’s thorax with his forefinger and thumb, he gently placed it in a killing jar containing ethyl acetate. He closed the jar’s lid and took it home where he eventully secured the butterfly’s lifeless body with its outspread wings on a mounting card to show his friends his love of butterflies. Today the same butterfly collector captures beautiful images of butterflies with a digital camera and permits them to fly away to live another day. Fortunately the collector also has created a butterfly flower garden at his home which brings butterflies to him so that it is no longer necessary for him to take routine trips to the fields to see butterflies.