For the Love of Nature

As a kid, growing up in my beloved little hometown of Oswego, Kansas, I used to capture butterfly larvae like this, put them in a jar (after poking holes in the lid with an ice pick), and wait impatiently for them to turn into butterflies.

In most instances, I'd either get tired of waiting and set them free, or sometimes accidentally kill them by not being attentive enough.

In the case of the two that you see here, I'm doing nothing more or less than just photographing them in their natural setting. They, like some others in recent days, have taken up residence in a dill plant my wife put out some time ago on our back patio. She first brought this event to my attention a few days ago, but when I got around to being ready to take their picture, they already had left to complete their cycle someplace else.

When the latest group showed up, I didn't drag my feet. Instead, I grabbed my camera and got some shots. These particular larvae eventually will become black swallowtail butterflies.

My interest in these little critters as a kid was due partly to the influence of one of my playmates, who lived across the road from where Mom and Dad raised my brother and me. His name is Gary Hevel. He and his sister, Jean, spent many an hour with the two of us during the summers. And Gary's kinship with Nature, which began there in Oswego, later carried him into a job with the Smithsonian Institution. Gary joined their staff in 1969, and as far as I know, still is there. According to information I found on the Internet, he is the public point-of-contact for the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian. If you're interested, you can see a video of Gary doing what he loves to do best, along with some biographical data, at this link: http://www.monkeysee.com/hevelg.

I've always liked butterflies, and I guess maybe they have a way of knowing that, because I've often had them come and perch on my fishing rod when I'm out on the water.