  In this work, high-resolution, high-speed videos of a Monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus) in take-off flight were obtained using a photogrammetry
system. Using a 3D subdivision surface reconstruction methodology, the
butterfly's body/wing deformation and kinematics were modeled and reconstructed
from those videos. High fidelity simulations were then carried out in order to
understand vortex formation in both near-field and far-field of butterfly wings
and examine the associated aerodynamic performance. A Cartesian grid based
sharp interface immersed boundary solver was used to handle such flows in all
their complexity.
