The chestnut tiger butterfly, known for its long-distance seasonal migrations, has arrived at the Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden in Kobe, delighting visitors as it flits among fragrant eupatorium, one of the seven flowers associated with autumn in Japan.
The butterfly is known for its distinctive pale blue-green and brown markings and can reach about 10 centimeters (4 inches) across with its wings spread.
The chestnut tiger butterfly can have a wingspan of up to 10 centimeters (4 inches).
In autumn, it migrates south through the Japanese archipelago in search of warmer climates, sometimes traveling more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). The garden confirmed the butterflies’ arrival in mid-September.
The butterflies are expected to remain through around the end of the month. A vocational school student who visited with her family held up her smartphone to take a photo.
“I never thought I’d be able to see them this close. They’re so beautiful,” she said.
A visitor stops to admire the butterflies up close.
(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Kotaro Hikono, The Sankei Shimbun
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AloJapan.com