Traditionally, catching and rearing butterflies are the methods for studying butterflies. It remains true when you work on academic researches. Alternative, if the focus is to watch or to count butterflies, watching butterflies with telescopes is also very enjoyable. With binoculars, you gets a stereoscopic view that is unmatched by any 3D TV or theater.
傳統上，研究蝴蝶需要捕捉及飼養蝴蝶。當你在作學術研究時，這仍是正確的做法。此外，如果重點是觀蝶或點算蝴蝶，使用望遠鏡也是相當有樂趣的。使用雙管望遠鏡的話，你獲得的立體視野是當今3D電視及影院也難以媲美的。
If you watch butterflies for leisure, taking photos of the butterflies may be a very good alternative. There are many advantages over traditional ways to study butterflies:
如果你以賞蝶作消遣，拍攝蝴蝶照片是一個不錯的選擇。相對傳統觀蝶，拍照有以下優勢：
- You will not need to keep the butterflies. In some places like forest reserves and national parks, you are prohibited from catching butterflies.
你不需要保存蝴蝶。在一些地方，如森林保護區及國家公園，捕捉蝴蝶可能是被禁止的 - You may be able to capture very detailed photos even when the butterflies are out of reach. When you review the photo on the camera, you may also enlarge it for easier observation.
即使蝴蝶在無法觸及的位置，你也許仍能拍得相當細緻的照片。透過相機放大拍得的照片，觀察變得容易 - You will be able to freeze the motion
你可以透過拍攝照片凝止動作 - You may identify the butterflies afterwards.
你可以稍後才辨認蝴蝶
Despite all these advantages, , identification through photos may not be conclusive. To accurately identify certain species, you may need to use some traditional methods such as getting hold of the specimens and dissecting them.
縱使拍攝照片有著不少好處，我們很可能得不到決定性的結果。要準確地辨認個別物種，可能需要透過捕捉及解剖等傳統方法。