This brilliantly colored milkweed locust is offset against a linen background in a shadowbox frame to create the illusion of flight.
The brilliant colors are meant to warn predators that the locust is highly poisonous. When threatened, it produces a poisonous froth from openings beneath its wings. This toxin comes from the milkweed plant, which the locust eats, and is strong enough to kill animals and people.
