Camouflage and Butterflies

Camouflage isn’t just a fashion trend. It’s also a smart way for animals—butterflies included—to survive so predators can’t see them. Right now in the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing, we have an outstanding example of that: the Mosaic Butterfly (Colobura dirce). When this Costa Rican native is resting with its wings closed, it displays a series of elaborate lines crisscrossing its wings. While these lines don’t look exactly like any one thing in nature, the pattern is extremely versatile and helps it blend into nearly any busy background, like branches in a forest.