Carleton University Butterfly Exhibit 2012 – Final Day – October 8, 2012
As is normal for the butterfly show at Carleton University, the number of people who want to get into the Greenhouses to see the butterflies tends to exceed the available time and at some point THE SIGN had to come out!
This year, Jen had the task of advising latecomers that the line had been closed. The general plan is that the “end of the line” sign is brought out at about 3PM. Using a rather unscientific method (let’s eyeball it!), Jen had to estimate where the end of the line should be so that the last of the entrants would be into the greenhouses by 4PM. I took up the end of the line and moved the barrier along while Jen advised folks as nicely as she could that they unfortunately were too late and invited them to come again next year (a bit earlier, hopefully). She got the estimate pretty good this year as it was about 4:10PM when I reached the entrance to the building :-).
Inside the building, Rick Cavasin was busy explaining how to differentiate one species of local butterfly from another very similar species. (Rick’s website).
Inside the main greenhouse, varies varieties of hibiscus were still blooming and the butterflies were still landing on people and providing a healthy dose of entertainment.
Brown Clipper (Parthenos sylvia)
Rice Paper (Idea Leuconoe)
Since butterflies are day fliers, it was interesting to see them begin to congregate on the Passiflora vine and other greenhouse plants as the outside light intensity dropped. Although the progressive drop in the light intensity would not be too noticeable to the human eye, I notice it by the effect on my camera settings and the behaviour of the butterflies certainly indicates that they notice the decrease.
I have a few more butterfly shots which I will post at some later date. That’s all for another year of butterflies art Carleton University.
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