Smithsonian Science

These butterflies Papilio memnon “Great Mormon” (top), from southern Asia, and Papilio ophidicephalus “Emperor Swallowtail,” from South Africa, appear in the flicker photo set “Nature’s Flying Canvases” from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. These and other living butterflies can be encountered in the museum’s live butterfly exhibit “Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution” in Washington, D.C.