This owl eye butterfly was spotted amongst some bananas from Jamaica on a stall at the Huddersfield market.
The year was 1926. It was captured, preserved and given to Seth Mosely, the curator at the Tolson Museum.
Chris Yeates, the current curator, talked about this beautiful exotic creature, one of the many moths and butterflies on show at Tolson Museum. The owl eye butterflies have a large spot on each wing like an owl’s eye. Slow flying, they come out at dark and are found in rainforests in Mexico, Central and South America. This information gave rise to an interesting discussion. “Did this butterfly or the bananas really come from Jamaica? Was there money in claiming they come from Jamaica and not somewhere else?” Fascinating!
This event was the first of a series of short talks and discussions at the start of each monthly Wednesday afternoon meeting held at Tolson Museum. Afterwards there was an update on progress of the Heritage Memorial Garden.
The next ‘Tea & Cake’ meeting organised by the ‘Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle’, will be 2pm on Wednesday 12th March.
All are welcome.