butterfly collection

Antique mounted tray of callippe fritillary, Speyeria callippe.

With a background in chemistry, I’m always on the lookout for a good science photo. This is a photo of an old tray of mounted butterflies all of the same species. Collecting insects was more common 100 years ago than it is today. Collections of multiple individuals like this were used to study the variation within a species. These are all very similar making a wonderful repetitive pattern. Photo available at iStockphoto.