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Thoughts from a Butterfly Hatch

2011-08-23 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Science & nature · reflection essay

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

Describing a butterfly hatch on a Bitterroot Valley hike, Hank explains Lepidoptera and western whites, then reflects that the sun's energy flows through the food web, and that some days life's purpose seems to be converting energy into beauty.

What is said

00:00:00 — The hike and the butterfly hatch; Lepidoptera as the most beloved insects; the name and Linnaeus finding scales

  • ★★★ Hank says that this weekend he and Katherine went hiking in the Bitterroot Valley and came across a hatch of butterflies, which John, having left Missoula, missed. — 00:00:00 · Katherine Green, Missoula, Montana
  • ★★ Hank says Lepidoptera is probably the most beloved insect order: people think of insects as creepy and gross, yet beg to be covered in butterflies. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank explains that the order Lepidoptera contains butterflies and moths, and 'lepid' comes from the word for scales, because butterflies have scales. — 00:00:32
  • ★★ Hank says Carl Linnaeus named the order Lepidoptera, devised the current system for naming species, and saw under a microscope that butterflies are covered in scales. — 00:00:32

00:00:59 — Grade-school punch over butterfly scales; western whites vs checkered whites; lepidopterists and butterfly genitalia

  • ★★ In grade school Hank told a classmate that butterflies' microscopic wing scales rub off when touched and they die; the classmate said that was ridiculous and punched him. (playful) — 00:00:59
  • ★★ Hank says most of the butterflies they saw, tens of thousands he thinks, were western whites, alongside a few other species. (hedged) — 00:00:59
  • ★★ Hank says western whites are very common and look almost exactly like checkered whites; they differ only in habitat (mountains vs plains) and in having incompatible genitalia. — 00:01:28
  • ★★ Hank says lepidopterists mostly spend their time staring at butterfly genitalia, pretty much the only reliable way to tell species apart. (playful) (hedged) — 00:01:28

00:01:57 — Thoughts on the walk: bell curves of the hatch, whether people without access can care about nature, butterflies mistaken for petals, booms and busts in nature

  • ★★ The walk made Hank think about bell curves: at one point only one adult butterfly had hatched, at another only one will be left alive, with a curve in between. — 00:01:57
  • ★★ Hank wonders whether people can still care about nature if they lack his opportunities to go out, experience it and see how amazing it is. (hedged) — 00:01:57
  • ★ Hank noticed what looked like rose petals on the water and realised they were butterflies. — 00:01:57
  • ★★ Hank says that just as the economy goes through booms and busts, so do the economies of nature. — 00:01:57

00:02:43 — Predators gorged and bees carrying butterflies off; the sun's energy flowing through life; the purpose of life as converting energy into beauty; sign-off

  • ★★ With so many butterflies, every predator was full: chipmunks, which don't normally eat them, ate them; chickadees could hardly fly; spider webs were torn apart. (playful) — 00:02:43
  • ★★ Hank saw bees attack butterflies, chew off their wings and fly off with the bodies, which he hadn't known they did; some carried off whole butterflies. — 00:02:43
  • ★★★ Seeing dead butterflies everywhere, Hank thought about the energy behind it all: sunlight passing into plants, caterpillars, butterflies, bees, spiders and birds, until it is free to dissipate again. — 00:03:22
  • ★★★ Some days it seems to Hank that the purpose of life is to convert energy into beauty; he knows it is not rationally true, but says that is sometimes okay. (hedged) — 00:03:22 > «the purpose of life is to convert. energy into beauty»

Humor (significant)

  • People find insects creepy and gross, yet they want butterflies all over them. — 00:00:00 > «Put the bugs on me!»
  • Hank voices Linnaeus discovering under a microscope that butterflies have scales. — 00:00:32 > «oh my god, they're freaking covered in scales. That's crazy. And that's a direct quote from his journal.»
  • Hank explained butterfly scales to a grade-school classmate, who punched him; Hank draws the moral. — 00:00:59 > «Some people punch in response to intimidation, so let that be a lesson to us all. Stop being smart.»
  • Lepidopterists can only reliably tell butterfly species apart by their genitalia, Hank warns prospective career-switchers. — 00:01:28 > «A lot of butterfly genitalia in your future.»

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