Nature's Sweet Lies: Lepidopterans in Camouflage and Mimicry

 Nature's Sweet Lies:

Lepidopterans in Camouflage and Mimicry*

 

"Nature, oh your own sweet lies, should I laugh or cry?

Deceit and conceit in the game of offence and defence."

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Two-Headed Skipper - True to its Name

Skippers are crepuscular (dusk loving), they
have characteristics of the moth and the butterfly.
Scientists find them unique specimens to study.
Mt Makiling Botanical Garden, UPLB, Laguna

Myth or truth - who is telling the story?

     There's a Janus among insects, too.

But where is the head, which is tail?

     I am predator, how would I know?

I would rather retreat from the puzzle

     and settle for an easier prey;

And let the world go by in fantasy

     in make-believe story.

Ask the scientists, ask the old folks,

     theirs the contrast of the other;

One holds on tools, the other on belief,

     to either one, why bother?

Cast doubt, indecision on the powerful,

     and the prey wins the game;

Creatures big and small, strong and frail,

     Survival is just the same. ~

                

3. Believe it or not. It's a two headed butterfly!

 

A relative of the Pieris raphae butterfly.  

Mt. Makiling Botanical Garden, UPLB, Laguna

Nature, oh your own sweet lies, should I laugh or cry?

Deceit and conceit in the game of offence and defence,

But what honor, what deed, if survival's the ultimate aim?

What is beauty then, where does goodness lie?

Who is the victor, who gets the spoil, if each creature,

is not what it looks but how it is seen? 

 

But it is not mortals who judge, only the One Unseen;

each existence designed by niche of space and time,

by a living chain and ladder, each a link or rung,

a web with all creatures and none is great or small. ~

 3. Ogre Skipper

Photo of actual specimen taken by the author at the Living with Nature Center. 2025. A unique discovery heretofore unidentified, thus it may be considered new in the list of Philippine Lepidopterans (Order of butterflies, moths and skippers).  It is either a new species or variant as a result of continued isolation bordered by heavy application of pesticide in the region, an evolutionary process in our postmodern times.  

Ugly, scary, one for a Dracula movie,

two large eyes to scare its enemy:

 bat, bird, reptile, human - the unwary,

 subject of science or bedtime story.

5. Pearl Butterfly

Photo  by the author of actual specimen against a painting background 

at the Living with Nature Center botanical garden 2025

The "pearl butterfly" can refer to several different types of butterflies, but the most common are the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, both belonging to the Fritillary family. These butterflies are known for their distinctive "pearls" (small spots) on the underside of their wings, particularly the hindwings. AI Overview

If I could pluck your pearls, if these were true,

     in the garden rather than in the deep blue;

but then I would rob your beauty and liberty;

     what is sanctity - and my sense of duty?

6. Swallowtail Butterfly

Papilio sp.

Photo of actual specimen by the author against a painting background 

to heighten its appearance resembling a swallow bird or swift.  By the way, 

the swallowtail butterfly is a favorite design of kite makers.

 

Papilio Latin for butterfly, generic name of the swallowtail butterfly.  This specimen, like the others mentioned, have not been officially identified and classified in accordance with international SOP and Protocol. ~

I found you in the garden,

studied your design,

made you into a kite,

a most important find.

* Camouflage and mimicry are two different ways animals and plants can deceive predators or prey for survival. Camouflage involves blending in with the environment to make an organism harder to see, while mimicry involves resembling another organism or object, often to appear harmless or dangerous.