Tropical Butterflies in the Depths of Winter

There are not many butterflies about in England in the first week of January, so on 3 January 2019 I went looking for them indoors, at a butterfly house.

The monarch was the most obliging sitter, perched side-on at the tip of a leaf with its wings closed, showing off that stained-glass pattern of orange, black and white spots. A glasswing settled on a spray of dark berries — those transparent wings are a strange thing to focus on — and a cream-spotted tiger longwing rounded off the set on a cluster of pink flowers.

Working in a butterfly house is a nice change of pace from a winter hide: warm, humid, and full of subjects that hold still just long enough. Keeping the backgrounds dark and simple lets the wings do all the talking.