There are many, many word duos that simply belong together. Examples include Bacon and Eggs. Batman and Robin. Day and Night. Give and Take. Cough and Covid. (Sorry, couldn’t resist!) But one word duo that flows together quite easily but for whatever reason is not as “well known” as the others is Nature and Art. But those who take a closer look at nature will undoubtably take notice that the colors and patterns exhibited can only be described as works of art. And there is a familiar species of butterfly known as the Common Buckeye that is a prime example of nature and art woven together.
The Common Buckeye ( Junonia coenia) has a widespread distribution that is primarily in the eastern half of the United States and Mexico. This same delineation occurs in the state of Texas, although there have been numerous observations of this species in and around urban areas and the higher elevation mountains of western Texas.
Attempting to adequately describe the Common Buckeye would be akin to briefly describing Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World. The background coloration is brown, although with the splashes of a vast array of colors, this background coloration is hardly noticeable. The most distinguishing characteristic of the Common Buckeye is the large black and gold bordered “eyespots” that contain the colors blue, black and orange. There are four “eyespots” on the hindwing and four on the forewing, but the ones on the hindwing are larger and more striking. The purpose of these eyespots may be to ward off predatory birds.
