- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's a group of butterflies called?
A kaleidoscope, swarm, or rabble.
If you've ever had a kaleidoscope in your childhood and admired the swirling colors and patterns, you know that's an appropriate name.
But even one monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, reminds us of a kaleidoscope--especially the swirling colors and patterns as it takes flight from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola).
Scottish inventor/scientist David Brewster coined the term, kaleidoscope, dating back to at least July 10, 1817, when he published his patent. Wikipedia describes the invention as "an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when viewed from the other end, due to repeated reflection. These reflectors are usually enclosed in a tube, often containing on one end a cell with loose, colored pieces of glass or other transparent (and/or opaque) materials to be reflected into the viewed pattern. Rotation of the cell causes motion of the materials, resulting in an ever-changing view being presented."
The toy kaleidoscopes bring joy.
So do monarchs.
A Flutter of butterflies
A Flap of butterflies