I rarely use a single outing for a photo challenge; ironically, I used the same outing for two challenges in less than three months. This week, Ann-Christine asks us to share photos taken during our last outing. She writes, “What happened on your last outing? Did you meet a friend or did you go shopping? Or maybe you just took a walk in the beautiful weather? What made you take out your camera?” You can read her entire challenge post here.
My opening photo features one of the world’s largest moths, the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas). Its wingspan can reach 9.5 inches (24 cm). The eye-like spots and intricate patterns on its wings serve as camouflage and deter predators, mimicking the appearance of a snake’s head.
I chose this outing because it’s the last time I purposely took my “good” camera, the Z7 II Nikon. In January, Ritva’s challenge was to shoot from above. I elected to head for the Tucson Botanical Garden to add to my collection with shots from above. For this week’s challenge from Ann-Christine, I picked photos I captured in the Cox Butterfly and Orchid Pavilion. With one exception, these photos were processed specifically for this challenge.
The pavilion lets a limited number of guests inside at a time. We waited behind the “Please Wait Here” sign for our turn to enter. Like all butterfly enclosures we visit, there is a vestibule that allows the exterior door to close before allowing access to the butterfly garden.
When you leave, a docent will inspect your clothing to ensure no “hitchhiking” butterflies on you before you exit the enclosure. I shared this photo in Ritva’s challenge and thought I’d share it again to demonstrate why the personal inspection is necessary before leaving the building.
I thought this butterfly was a Monarch, but the picture guide in the pavilion identified it as a Queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus). Its orange wings with black borders and white spots are characteristic of this species. It’s a close relative of the Monarch butterfly, but has its own unique pattern.
This butterfly is a male Great Mormon (Papilio memnon). This beautiful butterfly is known for its large wings adorned with contrasting black, white, and red patterns. The veins on the upper wings and bright orange spots on the lower wings are striking details. Male Great Mormons often display bold and vivid markings, including the distinct white and red patterns visible on the wings of this butterfly. Females typically have more varied and subdued patterns compared to males.
The butterfly on the left is the Scarlet Mormon (Papilio rumanzovia). This species is native to parts of Southeast Asia and is characterized by black wings with vibrant red and white markings.
The butterfly on the right is a female Great Mormon (Papilio memnon). It has lighter wings with black and orange markings. The Great Mormon also hails from tropical Asia and exhibits sexual dimorphism—males and females have distinct appearances. I’ve provided 2k HD versions of these photos on my Flickr site here.
An aside on AI research: I relied on Gemini AI and cross-checked the images and facts with Copilot for background information on these beautiful butterflies. Both agreed with the identifications and the descriptions of each species except for the Giant Owl Butterfly. Gemini identified the butterfly as a Malay Lacewing, and when I uploaded a closer view of the butterfly, Gemini stuck to the misidentification. On the other hand, Copilot identified the butterfly as a Monarch, but reidentified the butterfly as a Giant Owl butterfly with the close-up. When I uploaded the close-up image to Google’s Image Search tool, it correctly identified the butterfly as a Giant Owl. A docent in the butterfly pavilion provided my original identification of the butterfly on our visit. Regarding AI research, I am reminded of Ronald Reagan’s signature diplomacy program, “Trust, but verify.”
That’s all for my challenge response this week. Thanks to Ann-Christine for allowing me to share more images from the Tucson Botanical Garden. Last week, Egidio took us to the “Wild Side” of our photography. Next week, Anne provides the Lens-Artists Challenge at noon Eastern Time in the U.S. Be sure to follow her site here so you don’t miss her challenge post. If you’d like to participate in these challenges, but aren’t sure how to get started, check here.
John Steiner
Journeys with Johnbo 
That is a rather cool place to visit John. Wonderful butterflies and moths
Indeed it is, Brian! We will visit again next winter when we are in Tucson.
What a great place to visit. You did it proud with this wonderful series. Congratulations.
Thanks, Keith!
A wonderful collection, John!
Thanks, Yanaj *
Such lovely butterflies and so much information 🙂
Thank you!
Superb shots of lepidoptera. The pavilion has a seems to be rather good
Thanks, I.J. I had to look up “lepidoptera.” Learn something every day. >grin<
Wonderful macros/close-ups of the butterflies!
Thanks, Nes!
A wonderful response to the challenge. 😊
Thanks, Pepper!
Butterflies are like a never-ending buffet of loveliness though. There is no way you could exhaust that much intricate beauty in one session.
They are, indeed! My only regret was my inability to capture them in flight. I’m just not fast enough.
John, I am a butterfly lover! These beautiful butterfly images made my day!
Thanks, Beth. I will be visiting there again.
Ooh, I would love a visit here! A great opportunity to photograph these beautiful butterflies 🙂 As an aside, I usually use Google Lens to identify wildlife shots if I’m uncertain, but I always double check by then researching the suggested species. I was interested to hear the varied results you got.
On a future post, I was researching the Mulberry Harbor at Arromanches, France. I got lots of wrong information from both Google and Copilot. What I did get, though, were links to some of their original source material which provided what I needed.
What a fantastic post, John! Those butterfly and moth photos are amazing.
Thanks, Egidio!
Amazing pictures of these moths and butterflies! This is a great place to visit- I can see that. And I don’t think you should worry about not being fast enough…I can’t even get them when they seem to be sitting still… Looking forward to seeing more of these – love the Atlas and the Great Mormon especially. Perfect for the challenge all!
Thanks, Ann-Christine!
That Atlas moth would be a bit scary if it blundered into you. Amazing photo, John!
True that!
We’ve been to Tohono Chul in Tucson, but never to the Botanical Garden. I see I’ll have to rectify that omission, although Tohono Chul is wonderful as well. For me, the first photo of the moth is a clear winner. There’s something magical about butterflies and butterfly pavilions, isn’t there?
There sure is! We haven’t been to Tohono Chul. We’ll try to remember that for next winter.
Beautiful butterflies John. I’ve been in many butterfly enclosures, but have never seen a butterfly so large. Great images!
There are some amazing species in this pavilion, Anne!
😎
LOL for trust but verify John! Personally i’d have gone with “I believe it’s….” as opposed to the research but obviously you are more precise than I am! Loved your choice for the week, the butterflies are glorious and very well captured. Loved the woman’s hat adornment 😊
Thanks, Tina. I don’t know enough about butterflies and birds to even suggest a guess. 😃
Great photos John. Love those butterflies.
Thanks!
Beautiful butterflies!
Indeed!
Love these captures.
Those photos are incredible John, the butterflies are amazing.
It must be quite a job to keep a butterfly garden stocked!
Butterflies are amazing, but that Atlas moth is spectacular
It sure is!
Oh..wow!
That’s quite a moth, isn’t it!
All of them are gorgeous, so well captured!
Thanks, Don!
I rarely see butterflies and moths any more so it was a surprise you found so many in one spot, and such unique and spectacular ones at that.
The botanical garden has a pavilion just for the purpose of showing off rare butterflies. Thanks, Elizabeth.
Beautiful images John and the variety of butterflies and moths here is truly amazing! 😊🦋
Thanks, Xenia!
[…] And that’s my little contribution to the Lens artists #343 challenge. […]
These are some beautiful pics of the moths and butterflies, John. Amazing colors and patterns!
Thanks! They are beautiful when standing on a leaf, though I tried, they are all but impossible to capture a photo in flight.