Encounter With the Dark Side~ Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)
Every time I think I've seen just about everything in nature, reality taps me on the shoulder and says 'well, check THIS out...' and I couldn't believe my eyes when I encountered this incredibly dark Buckeye butterfly in the Upper Delta! It was actually almost completely black, except for the markings and eye spots, but I had to use flash to even register it in the shade, so it's lighter in the photo than it really was!
There is a 'rosa morph' form of Buckeye in Autumn that is slightly darker, with rose red ventricle wings, but this was ten times darker than those...just a mind blowing experience for me!
Here's a typical Buckeye by comparison, below...
Encounter With the Dark Side~ Common Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia)
Every time I think I've seen just about everything in nature, reality taps me on the shoulder and says 'well, check THIS out...' and I couldn't believe my eyes when I encountered this incredibly dark Buckeye butterfly in the Upper Delta! It was actually almost completely black, except for the markings and eye spots, but I had to use flash to even register it in the shade, so it's lighter in the photo than it really was!
There is a 'rosa morph' form of Buckeye in Autumn that is slightly darker, with rose red ventricle wings, but this was ten times darker than those...just a mind blowing experience for me!
Here's a typical Buckeye by comparison, below...