Butterfly Wonderland, Scottsdale, AZ is indeed a wonderful place to find hundreds of beautiful butterflies, and as luck would have it, this particular one was perched on a Mexican Flame Flower of the same color, and a similar name.
Commonly called the Julia butterfly, the flame, or flambeau, is a species of brush-footed butterfly, native from Brazil to southern Texas and Florida, and in summer can sometimes be found as far north as eastern Nebraska.
While dodging these winged wonders and having them land on our heads and hands, both my husband and I indulged in their beauty and agility. And, we watched in wonder as some attempted to mate, but as we discovered later, male and female butterflies may go on a courtship flight that can last for an hour or more; but with our limited time and my long, heavy camera/lens combo, we weren’t about to wait that long.
However, I do have some very close encounter images, one of which I’ll share with you tomorrow, just for “porn” sake.