We’ve all heard of Mormon crickets. But did you know that there are not just one, but half a dozen types of Mormon butterfly? They’re named for their practice of polygamy (heh), and they’re beautiful.
The Great Mormon butterfly (Males are blue or black, females have striking speckled patterns of red, black and gray).
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The Common Mormon butterfly:
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More here, here (read the description on the second one), here.
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The Mormon Fritillary (an American moth butterfly rather than a polygamous Asian butterfly)
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More here.
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The Mormon Metalmark (another American moth butterfly)
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The Scarlet Mormon:
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The Blue Mormon:
(All pictures in this post copied from the “Share This” feature at Flickr.)
I didn’t find flickr pictures of the Andaman Mormon, which is a rare species.
Beautiful! I think I once lived in their ward.
(This of course feeds right into Edje Jeter’s series on Mormon critters beginning here.)
Fritillaries and metalmarks are both considered butterflies, not moths.
Good to know – I just updated the description.
And yep, Ardis, this certainly feeds into Edje’s very good series at JI.
These are beautiful!
So you’re saying we’re a good-looking people? Because these butterflies are gorgeous (and if I show the pictures to my daughter, I may never get my computed back).
Love these pictures …
It’s nice to see a T&S post that even I enjoyed perusing.
Keep up the good work, Kaimi. :)
I actually own a Mormon Butterfly. I found it in a curio shop. It is pinned as a specimen under glass and framed in black. Curiosity indeed.