These butterflies are the Jimmy Durantes of the butterfly world. I found this one on the back porch and I transferred it a leaf. It was very co-operative and allowed me to shoot a bunch of pictures. These butterflies are one of the few that actually do migrate and at times in very large numbers. The caterpillars feed on hackberry trees and I’ve seen the adults nectaring on the thistle in the backyard. It’s thought that the elongated mouth parts (labial palps) help the butterfly appear to be a stem or leaf on a tree.
Now for some close-ups I switched to a 55 micro lens and various combinations of extension tubes to give more magnification. If you look close you can see the butterfly has some damage to the snout and you can see the detail the underlying structure.
Love the American Snout, but I’ve never had this good a look at those massive mouth parts. Nice!