THE VERY MOST TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTER WITH NATURE IN MY YOUNG AGE OF 12 TOOK PLACE AT BOYS SCOUTS OF AMERICA SUMMER CAMP. I WILL NEVER FORGET FOR NOTHING THE HIGH SIERRAS. I WAS GATHERING WOOD AS IT WAS MY TURN FOR SUPPER FIRE. I WENT AND ENTERED ONE OF THE USUAL CAREFULLY CUT OUT TRAILS IN THE DENSE FOREST. IT WAS BRIGHT AND HOT BEFORE I ENTERED THE FOREST, THEN IT WAS VERY DARK WITH LITTLE LIGHT GETTING IN. ANYWAY, I WASN'T BLIND SO IT WAS NOT THAT DARK, AND I COULD SEE WHERE I WAS WALKING. LOOKING AROUND ON BOTH SIDES FOR DECENT SIZED FIREWOOD, I SAW AHEAD OF ME SOMETHING FLYING. I COULDN'T REALLY MAKE OUT WHAT I WAS SEEING BECAUSE OF THE SMALL RAYS OF LIGHT. ALL OF THE SUDDEN I REALIZED WHAT WAS FLITTERING AROUND AND IT WAS TOO LATE FOR ME TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. I WAS PUT OF THE GROUND ON MY REAR BECAUSE THAT BUTTERFLY WAS TOO BIG. IT WAS BIG ENOUGH THAT I WAS UPENDED MIXED WITH TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY-THEN SUDDEN EMOTION AROSE WITHIN ME BECAUSE I FELT GUILTY BECAUSE I CAUSED THIS INCREDIBLE ANGELIC BEING TO FALL DO ITS EVENTUAL DEATH. THE BUTTERFLY I MANY YEARS LOOKED UP HAD A 3" WING SPAN AND INSIDE THE BOUNDRIES OF BLACK PIPELINE THERE WAS INCREDIBLE DEEP ROYAL BLUE. THE HIGH SIERRAS I WAS TOLD WAS CALLED THE LAND TIME FORGOT, AND I CAN SEE WHY.

This is such a beautiful picture. ;)

Brock and Kaufman, Butterflies of North America (Houghton-Mifflin, 2003), page 26, state that the male has the striking irridescence.