One day, I went out into my backyard to get a few quick photographs of some colorful ripening ornamental peppers, and I ended up making a new friend.

Near the flower bed with the multicolored peppers, I was befriended by a remarkably persistent American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) butterfly.

The American Snout kept fluttering near me and landing within arm reach. It followed me all around the flower bed, and it's unusual behavior made me forgot about getting more pepper photographs, and instead I took quite a few photographs of my new, six-legged friend.

When resting, American Snouts rely on their dead leaf appearance as camouflage from predators. They hold their antennae forward, in line with their characteristic prominent snouts, which form the "stem" of the faux dead leaf.