A Few of FR's Finest...Every Day...03-15-06....Butterflies !! The "Pretty" Bugs!

DollyCali | March 15, 2006 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, dutchess, DollyCali GodblessUSA ~

Butterfly Facts

Did you know?

,,,that butterflies taste with their feet?

... that butterflies don't have noses? They smell with their antennae!

. . . that butterfly wings are covered with tiny scales? Different colored scales make up the pretty patterns we see.

... that butterflies are cold-blooded? The dark colors on their wings help them absorb the heat from the sun.

... that some butterflies wear camouflage? The wings of many butterflies have colors and patterns that blend in with their natural surroundings to protect them from predators.

... that butterflies can see ultraviolet light? Some scales on butterfly wings reflect light that is invisible to humans. Butterflies use these ultraviolet patterns to recognize each other.

... that a butterfly's mouth is like a drinking straw? That's because butterflies only eat liquid foods, like nectar from flowers or fruit. The mouth, called a proboscis, stays rolled up until it's time to eat.

... that a butterfly wasn't always a butterfly? Every butterfly starts as a tiny egg that hatches into a caterpillar)larvae). The caterpillar grows and grows until it's time to build a hardened shell around its body, called a chrysalis. While the caterpillar sleeps inside the (pupae) chrysalis, its body changes and grows new parts. When it comes out, it has become a butterfly, quite a different creature than a caterpillar!

Two weeks after hatching, the Monarch butterfly is 3,000 times its original birth weight. ..

The color in a butterfly's wings does not come from pigment. The color is produced prism-like by light reflected by their transparent wing scales..

The world’s smallest butterfly is the Pygmy Blue.  Its wingspan ranges between three eighths to half an inch in length. The largest butterfly in the world is the Giant Birdwing from the Solomon Islands. The female can have a wing span of over 12 inches..

Butterflies have an honed sense of smell and can detect nectar from miles away.  When they sense the blossoming of a plant they thrive on, they will travel for hours to reach it..

Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees

To A Butterfly (second) by William Wordsworth

'VE watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
Here rest your wings when they are weary;
Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
Come often to us, fear no wrong;
Sit near us on the bough!
We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.

Written in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.

From Cocoon Forth a Butterfly

FROM cocoon forth a butterfly
As lady from her door
Emerged—a summer afternoon—
Repairing everywhere,

Without design, that I could trace,
Except to stray abroad
On miscellaneous enterprise
The clovers understood.

Her pretty parasol was seen
Contracting in a field
Where men made hay, then struggling hard
With an opposing cloud,

Where parties, phantom as herself,
To Nowhere seemed to go
In purposeless circumference,
As ’t were a tropic show.

And notwithstanding bee that worked,
And flower that zealous blew,
This audience of idleness
Disdained they, from the sky,

Till sundown crept, a steady tide,
And men that made the hay,
And afternoon, and butterfly,
Extinguished in its sea.

Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924

Another Song of a Fool

THIS great purple butterfly,
In the prison of my hands,
Has a learning in his eye
Not a poor fool understands.

Once he lived a schoolmaster
With a stark, denying look,
A string of scholars went in fear
Of his great birch and his great book.

Like the clangour of a bell,
Sweet and harsh, harsh and sweet,
That is how he learnt so well
To take the roses for his meat.

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939). The Wild Swans at Coole. 1919.

Butterfly Screen Saver

Kids Butterfly Site

The Butterfly Site

Greta oto is one of a number of similar transparent winged butterflies. It comes from central America, and is found from Mexico to Panama. It is quite common in its zone, but it not easy to find because of its transparent wings, which is a natural camouflage mechanism.

Greta oto is a brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the clearwing clade; its wings are transparent. Its most common English name is glasswing, and its Spanish name is espejitos, which means "little mirrors." Indeed, the tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass. It is one of the more abundant clearwing species in its home range. The opaque borders of its wings are dark brown sometimes tinted with red or orange, and its body is dark in color. Its wingspan is between 5.5 and 6 cm.

Adults inhabit the rainforest understory and feed on the nectar of a variety of tropical flowers. G. oto prefers to lay its eggs on plants of the tropical nightshade genus Cestrum. The silvery-gray caterpillars feed on these toxic plants and store the alkaloids in their tissues, making them distasteful to predators such as birds. They retain their toxicity in adulthood. The same alkaloids that make them poisonous also are converted into pheromones by the males, which use them to attract females..

G. oto adults also exhibit a number of interesting behaviors, such as long migrations and lekking among males..

Greta oto Scientific classification

Domain:--- Eukaryota
Kingdom: ---Animalia
Phylum:--- Arthropoda
Class---: Insecta
Order:---Lepidoptera
Suborder: ---Ditrysia
Division:--- Rhopalocera
Superfamily: ---Papilionoidea
Family: ----Nymphalidae
Subfamily: ---Ithomiinae
Genus: ---Greta
Species:--- G. oto

12-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #14

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 03-13-06 Military Monday 03-14-06....A Finest Pet Day ~ The Doggie Dictionary

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[Billie]

Thank you, finest freeper friends, for your *fine* words. :) dolly, actually the framework is mostly gold gradient ribbon, with the usual table *border* of two shades of grey. I take it you don't have your pc problem *fixed* yet, and the colors on that monitor are not what you normally see? Would that we could all see the same thing - it would make it so much easier in choosing colors if we knew everyone saw it as we do! :)

Yes, dutchess and I traded this week, but I never feel as comfortable doing John's essays as she and aqua always do. :(

I should get it put together and quit putting it off!

[MEG33]

Karner Blue

I thought this one was pretty..From up north

[DollyCali]

dont wish to go into details here. but using a borrowed PC for now & still the wonderful 13" crt...yuk! my eyes really hurt with it.

[DollyCali]

I should get it put together and quit putting it off!

sounds like these words should be coming off my keyboard ... not yours. But wtih JH2 there is not extra time to prepare.. 24 hours usually

[DollyCali]

After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: ``We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?''... This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.

[MEG33]

I just would not have even attempted framing without your threads, your simple one frame "beginner's" table and the help with posting the partridge and the backgrounds you posted.

I finally have made photoshop the home for all my backgrounds..and they keep the familiar names. I have so many and did not even download all I have used...It really would have been impossible to begin without your wonderful tables threads and help along the way.
Reposting for all:
.Billies Threads.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1418010/posts
Mission Possible
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1441078/posts
Ready ~ Set Tables ~ GO!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1555130/posts
Turning the Tables
I think it is the second thread that has a simple table (frame)to copy at the beginning and paste and insert your own picture in.

THANK YOU BILLIE!

[Aquamarine]

I dated a guy like that once... but I digress...

Too funny!

Thought of you a few times the past few days with various reasons.. hope you are doing well!

Doing fine, thank you. I think of you all here alot and peek in from time to time which always makes me feel better. :)

(working w/13 monitor/no pix showing/sinus problems/sore eys).. and the good " thinking of you" came across a small box of sections of geodes... about 1.5" across.. hallow inside for use for jewelry..

You found a box of geodes! The miniature ones are so pretty and glittery.

[Aquamarine]

Hey Billie. Found Johns essay in my mailbox. It's a good one, can't wait to see what you do with it. :)

[MEG33]

Good to "see" you, Aqua!

[Majie Purple]

"Thank you, finest freeper friends, for your *fine* words. :)"

Thank you too... our dear freeper friend, Billie!

[lysie]

Great thread Dolly. Thanks.

[Aquamarine]

Thanks MEG. I miss seeing everyone on a daily basis but am still "here" somewhat.

[DollyCali]

Table making opportunity..challenge.. fun ... I am putting on my Billie hat as she is busy now with a JH2 thread prep & cant put on my regular hat(dunce in corner)..

here are some more backgrounds & pix.. when I get back in a bit I am going to play around with some tables & if you have a few minutes maybe you can do the same...Between what is here & all the graphics in thread, there is a lot of "material" to work with.

they are on my server.. feel free to use them anywhere & whenever you wish..

[DollyCali]

you are welcome.. I know animal/pet lover that you are, this was right up your alley. With your love of graphics, you are a natural for tables/HTML.. it is fun.. but sometimes frustrating...It is a good release for me for the "common problem" that you & I share

[Majie Purple]

"I DID IT!!!!!!!!" refers to freema's saying that she successfully posted her first pic...to which I responded..."Yea freema! Congrats! you post graduate you!Now spred your wings and fly!"
Just clearing up that wee bit of confusion some had. This is the context.It's easy to lose track of who's posting to what pic etc...no worries!

[MEG33]

Dolly..Your beautiful thread and theme were such a treat! Thank you!

[Aquamarine]

Thanks for letting me know that the book was for sale. Just ordered one!

[Majie Purple]

Thank you Dolly! You did butterfly today!(Butterfly=Beautifully):]

[DollyCali]

Jack.. do you have something we can "pretty up"? Here is yours Bob..hugs & thanks for sharing with us!

Butterfly

What’s in those flowers that you sip,
That makes you seem so tipsy?
We can’t tell if you’re coming from,
Albany or Poughkeepsie,

Or even if you’re going to,
One place or the other.
The way you travel seems to be,
You’re looking for your mother!

Just as a toddler wanders round,
With no fixed course in sight,
The butterfly flits both here and yon,
In most erratic flight.

It seems so inefficient,
Why can’t you just hold still?
And then you stop, and fold your wings,
Upon a daffodil.

You daintily step forward,
“I haven’t touched a drop!”
And just as sober as a Judge,
You spread your wings and FLOP!

And Flip, and Flap, and bounce.
A goonie in reverse.
How can you be so comical?
I know you don’t rehearse.

And yet you get where you must go,
God knows how you can do it.
Perhaps the use of folded hands,
And faith just leads you to it.

By NicknamedBob . . . . March 30, 2004
© 2004

---

[MEG33]

Delightful poem and framing!