Blue Common Buckeye Butterfly

Blue Common Buckeye Butterfly - Junonia coenia

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Blue Common Buckeye Butterflies ~ Junonia coenia

Although blue is often seen in the spots on Buckeye butterfly wings, a Buckeye with blue background on its wings is quite unusual. As usual, our curiosity won. Each time we emerged a Buckeye butterfly with blue in the background of its wings, we would isolate it and collect its eggs. As time passed, each generation would bring more Buckeyes with this iridescent blue in the background on the wings. After several generations, the hindwings began to show a good bit more blue. By continually isolating any butterflies with blue in the background, we finally began to emerge Buckeye butterflies with the entire background of their wings a remarkable metallic blue.

We uploaded a couple of video clips to our facebook page that illustrates that we are not photoshopping the images to make them appear blue.
Blue Buckeye butterfly and normal Buckeyes and Blue Buckeye butterfly.


Buckeye butterfly selective breeding results as seen in June 2011.	Our experiment began with a bit of blue in the forewings.	Another with a bit of blue in the forewings.

Soon, a bit more blue in the wings.	Beginning to notice a bit of blue in their hindwings.	Checking old images, this photo from 2007 was discovered with a good bit of blue in the hindwings.

By spring of 2011, the blue was remarkable.	Not all are covered in blue, but many in that line have a good bit of blue in all four wings.	By June 2011, the blue cannot be ignored. Exhibit managers began to remark on the blue Buckeyes that emerge from our weekly pupae shipments to their exhibits.

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Email edith@buyabutterfly.com
Shady Oak Butterfly Farm Toll free 877-485-2458 12876 SW CR 231 Brooker, Fl 32622 Stephen & Edith Smith

Located 45 minutes from the Butterfly Rainforest Exhibit at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida