Malachite
Siproeta stelenes · Butterflies
Malachite
Carlsbad, 7 March 2026
A second Malachite, wings folded rather than spread, resting on a leaf in the butterfly house. In the wild this is a butterfly of the forest edge from Mexico to Brazil, and it rests exactly like this under a leaf through the heat of the day.
The underside carries the same pale green-and-black pattern as the upperside, just muted, which is unusual. Most butterflies use a bright upperside for display and a dull, cryptic underside for camouflage at rest, but this species doesn't bother hiding much either way.
Malachite
Carlsbad, 7 March 2026
A Malachite in the butterfly house at Carlsbad, a butterfly of the forests of Central and South America that strays north on its own as far as Texas and Florida, well outside any range that would bring it to California without help.
Named for the pale green mineral, though the wing colour is closer to a washed-out lime than true malachite green. The adults feed on rotting fruit as readily as flowers, and in the wild they gather at fallen mangoes.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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