Society’s love of butterflies currently valued at $40,800

Butterflies and their peaceful meadow imagery powers have been all over the place this week (wait until you see the butterfly with the ball and chain that’s in the scan queue).  According to CNN, someone placed a winning online bid of $40,800 to name a butterfly the Minerva owl butterfly or Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae, which is apparently named after Ohio’s late Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller.  Here’s the link with a picture of the butterfly.  This butterfly discovery wasn’t made recently in the wilds of Sonora, Mexico, but rather in the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Maybe the Smithsonian will also start going through their collections for insects to sell so that they can meet their budget shortfall for needed repairs.

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Posted on November 24, 2007
Filed Under Butterflies, Science, Society |

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