How long do butterflies live? Maybe up to two weeks? Ten days? I see a lot of butterflies around but rarely I see their dead bodies. Do they move and hide themselves as they grow ‘old’- after living for a week or so – to die? Or maybe because more of them ends up as birds feed.

This one I found just below my front steps. Broken wings and all. See the patterns on the wings? I noticed that the right and left wing are not very symmetrical. I’ve always thought they would be, to distract predators, make up a shape of an eye or something, you know. Or maybe, it’s because of this particular pattern on the wings it was attacked by a bird. One thing though,even in death I can easily notice some of the traces of its former beauty. Tragic.