The Butterflies of December
display at
CMPL butterfly display
“From where the sun is
still shining”
By Alannah Allbrett
You may remember movies
entitled: The Guns of Navarone, or The Missiles of October. Well, this is not
that. [These are not they.] This is The Butterflies of December. Richard Whitten, noted entomologist of
Orofino, waxed poetic in naming his newest display in the Clearwater Memorial
Public Library – and with good reason. He put together a remarkably beautiful
display which he said he hopes brings sunshine and color to the shorter and
often dark days of December in northern
Some of the butterflies are
displayed inverted (flipped over) to show their dazzling colors. And the library
is a lovely, warm place to view them. The exhibit is free of charge and easy to
find. Just hang a right past the check-out desk, and in the southeast corner,
brightening up the room, one will find lovely butterflies that come from exotic
If one were a bird flying
above the trees and looking down at a flock? gaggle? herd? of butterflies [the
correct term is rabble or swarm of butterflies], one would see them as white
from the top side. So, Richard Whitten, in his entomological wisdom, knows that
if one views the rabble from the underside – all their vivid, wonderful,
glorious colors are on display. You don’t have to get on your hands and knees
and look at them from under a glass coffee table or crink your neck viewing them
suspended from the ceiling. For your comfort and viewing pleasure, Richard has
displayed the butterflies (tummy side up) for you to see.
One family of butterflies,
which are in two of the cases, is from the Pieridae family. There are Sulfurs,
Whites, Orange Tips and many others including some little temptresses called
Jezebels. Another case displays lovely
Agrias, red and blue butterflies from the Amazon which Richard calls
“Spectacular.”
Richard Whitten has many more
specimens to show you in the future, including butterflies that are camouflaged
to imitate the leaves and branches, and blend in with mottled tree bark.
But for right now, when it’s
raining or snowing and it’s dark outside, and you are dreaming of a far away
sunny island, Richard wants to treat you to some lovely colorful butterflies
“from where the sun is still shining.” The Butterflies of December will be on
display in the library Monday through Friday