Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) laying egg on Cow Vetch R8961 Backus Woods, ON PFN
Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) female laying egg on Cow Vetch.
Backus Woods, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada.
June 3, 2016.
While I was searching Cow Vetch for Silvery Blue caterpillars, this female landed right in front of me and proceeded to lovingly deposit an egg. With the 65mm MP-E lens on my camera (my 100 was out of reach), so that's all I had to work with. Fortunately, my subject didn't object to my "objectif photographique", and allowed me to invade her personal space, shooting from only a couple of inches from the front of my lens. :-)
Once she flew off, I photographed the egg--then found another egg that had been laid previously on a nearby stem of the same Cow Vetch plant.
Here's the egg that she laid:
www.flickr.com/photos/74102791@N05/27411049756/
Believe it or not, the eggs are actually easier to spot than Silvery Blue caterpillars. The eggs are are slightly aqua, and stand out nicely against the pure green Cow Vetch. The caterpillars, on the other hand, are perfectly camouflaged on Vetch buds.
About the only way I was able to find the one caterpillar I photographed was to follow the Ants. Ants tend and protect the caterpillars in return for honeydew. Watching the Ants is far from foolproof, because there are also Aphids on the Vetch. Most of the time I found Ants I was unable to locate a caterpillar because they were tending Aphids, which also offer honeydew to Ants in return for their protection from predators and parasites.
Jay's website: www.PhotographsFromNature.com
Photographs, Text and Videos ©Jay Cossey, PhotographsFromNature.com (PFN).
All rights reserved. Contact: Jay@PhotographsFromNature.com
Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) laying egg on Cow Vetch R8961 Backus Woods, ON PFN
Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) female laying egg on Cow Vetch.
Backus Woods, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada.
June 3, 2016.
While I was searching Cow Vetch for Silvery Blue caterpillars, this female landed right in front of me and proceeded to lovingly deposit an egg. With the 65mm MP-E lens on my camera (my 100 was out of reach), so that's all I had to work with. Fortunately, my subject didn't object to my "objectif photographique", and allowed me to invade her personal space, shooting from only a couple of inches from the front of my lens. :-)
Once she flew off, I photographed the egg--then found another egg that had been laid previously on a nearby stem of the same Cow Vetch plant.
Here's the egg that she laid:
www.flickr.com/photos/74102791@N05/27411049756/
Believe it or not, the eggs are actually easier to spot than Silvery Blue caterpillars. The eggs are are slightly aqua, and stand out nicely against the pure green Cow Vetch. The caterpillars, on the other hand, are perfectly camouflaged on Vetch buds.
About the only way I was able to find the one caterpillar I photographed was to follow the Ants. Ants tend and protect the caterpillars in return for honeydew. Watching the Ants is far from foolproof, because there are also Aphids on the Vetch. Most of the time I found Ants I was unable to locate a caterpillar because they were tending Aphids, which also offer honeydew to Ants in return for their protection from predators and parasites.
Jay's website: www.PhotographsFromNature.com
Photographs, Text and Videos ©Jay Cossey, PhotographsFromNature.com (PFN).
All rights reserved. Contact: Jay@PhotographsFromNature.com