Hidden Butterfly Beauty

"O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all:

The earth is full of your creatures"  Psalm 104:24

There is a lot of hidden beauty of God's creation in the bush!

The seasons are beginning to change here and the butterflies are in abundance.  Botswana has a myriad of butterfly 'designs'!

These beautiful little insects  which only have a lifespan on average of about a month come in so many colours and patterns.

But as I took the time to watch them and tried to photograph them, what struck me was how different the top side of their wings can be to the bottom side.  So for most of them when their wings are 'closed' they look one colour/design and when they are 'open' they can look entirely different.  The 'closed' position is usually more plain and fairly well camouflaged.  The 'open' position is usually stunningly beautiful and full of rich colour markings.

I wish I could share with you pictures of all the butterflies I've seen in the last few days, but they mostly move so quickly that they are very difficult to photograph.  However, I did manage to capture a few shots to share.

Here is the first butterfly with wings tightly closed and well camouflaged

here are two - just to show how well hidden they are with wings closed

A closer look shows even the 'plain' and camouflaged outside of the wings still has a degree of beautiful markings....

But when the wings start to open the vibrant colours really become evident

And when the wings are fully open - wow!

Then here is a second butterfly - who is very plain on the outside with wings closed and well camouflaged on white flowers

But inside has a surprise!

And if you get the angle of the light right, the colour becomes a deep rich orange

Unfortunately these were the only two that I could get both 'closed' and 'open' photos, but here are a few more photos of some others that were fluttering around and managed to stop long enough for me to photograph!