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Owl butterfly (Caligo sp), Arima Valley, Trinidad

The neotropical owl butterflies are enormous, up to 20 cm across. This image is rather unsatisfactory: the insect is feeding on rotting fallen fruit -- they have a penchant for bananas -- which provides a disruptive background. Apart from the under-wing "eye", which it uses to intimidate predators (mainly lizards), it is well camouflaged. And it prefers to fly at dusk.

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Bananenfalter sp. Калиго sp.

 

 

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Uploaded on February 5, 2018
Taken on January 14, 2018