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One of the most dramatic places in all of Vermont. The Pier at Lewis Pond. Unknown to almost everyone. Sits in the middle of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge devoted to bird habitats. Nulhegan Basin. The least visited and most rugged area called the Northeast Kingdom.
More masks of the brazilian musical tradition of folk "Folia de Reis" or 'Folly of the Kings".
> They are "Alferes Bento" Group, from Paraibuna city, São Paulo state,
at the Festival of the Traditional São Paulo Culture, realized by
Abaçaí Cultura e Arte - Social Organization Of Culture.
Copyright © 2006 Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
Not every chapel is devoted to god or religion. Capilla de la Luna is devoted to life. All those who want to restore their faith in life with quiet meditation are welcome. Nobody guides you while you are here. It is up to you to ponder your story and to find the answers and to plan your next steps... or not.
Capilla de la Luna is a place to clear one's mind and to rest and to scratch every itch you must. This is a place to laugh and to cry and to prepare for life again.
My 99th submission to the 100 Strangers project is a portrait of a devoted couple, Harold and Bernice of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They have been married for 75 years and proudly wear matching wedding bands. They walk with their arms tightly interlocked, as pictured here; he steers, and she keeps them to a quick pace.
Bernice informed me that her husband was 95 years old, though she didn't offer her own age. Harold is mostly deaf and wears double hearing aids that he likes to switch off from time-to-time. Bernice has become totally blind over time, although her hearing is perfect. They live together and are wholly interdependent and complete each other.
When I asked to photograph them for a portrait, Harold agreed immediately and asked his wife to stand still.
Bernice was resistant. She admitted to vanity and expressed concern about the appearance of her hair if she were to remove her scarf. I asked her not to worry, and to keep her head covering in place because the color was cheerful and becoming. Still, Bernice needed a few minutes of conversation with me to warm up and become acquainted before agreeing to being photographed.
As we stood together, I set my camera to silent mode, which enabled my being able to capture this candid moment. We were outside in soft natural lighting on an overcast day.
While adjusting the antenna on his right hearing aid fob, Harold said, "I drive better than I walk." Yes, he drives them everywhere, whenever and wherever his wife wants to go.
My nearly complete catalogue of 100 Strangers is here.
Project participants share their 100 strangers in the group pool here.
This is my 27th submission to the Human Family Group, an ongoing Flickr project for photographers who enjoy meeting and photographing strangers, any time, any place, with explicit permission, and a Joie de vivre.
Curious and clever, the Schipperke dog breed is often nicknamed LBD, for little black devil. They're fearless and devoted, always on guard to protect their family from harm. The Shippers small size and easy-care coat are attractive qualities, but their intelligence and curiosity can lead them into trouble. They adapt well to just about any home, even apartments, so long as they can get plenty of exercise. However, their independent streak can prove difficult for novice pet parents to handle. If you can give your dog patient training and physical activity while keeping a good sense of humor, you'll be rewarded with a great watchdog and a happy, loving family member
Name: DCBronze
The details: DC d'R Clone 0202 Studio edition doll
Fashion: Devoted Heart (OOAK Superdoll, 2005), Colourshop wig
Macey will only sit in my wife's lap if I'm not in the room. When I enter, she reports for lap-warming duty. It's a two-way thing: my obligation is to stroke her ears and belly.
After three years of devoted fiddling (one annual pruning if I happened to remember) with my found and neglected grapevine and losing only one bunch to critters this year, I am proud to present a portion of what amounted to a rather sizable harvest, now sitting in my refrigerator awaiting a determination of what to do with all these grapes. Having identified them as a concord, and not seedless, I can manage about four per sitting before deciding I wasn't that hungry. I reckon that's where the expression "sour grapes" originated. Looking in the phone book for someone named Manischewitz was fruitless (get it?), and no one has volunteered their feet to help in the process. Jelly would be the logical solution, but I have no jars and am fresh out of pectin. So I'm left to my own devices and certainly open to suggestions.
Like any dedicated vintner, I have recorded the progress of this year's bounty (somewhat romantically shown below), including a small but unhappy spider in the final shot who was not at all pleased to see the framework of his snare being disassembled, his attacks on my finger resulting in much flinching and withdrawal on my part, despite my distinct size advantage.
Cheers!
Acts 2:42 (ESV)
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Fellowship.
The essence of the Christian life—fellowship with God and fellowship with other believers in Christ.
In the beginning, Adam was placed in the garden to enjoy friendship and communion with God. When the creature chose to assert his own autonomy rather than live under the Creator’s gracious care, fellowship was broken. Hence Adam and Eve hid themselves from the Lord’s presence (Gn 3:8). Yet God immediately sought them out (v 9) and revealed his plan for the ultimate restoration of sinners through the work of the Redeemer (v 15).
The OT tells how God began to draw a special people into fellowship with himself. Enoch is described as a man who walked with God (Gn 5:22, 24). Noah, likewise, walked in communion with the Lord (6:9). And Abraham, the father of Israel, is called “the friend of God” (Jas 2:23). No OT saint had deeper fellowship with God than did Moses during his 40-day encounter with the Lord on Mt Sinai (Ex 24). Later in Israel’s history David wrote psalms that reflect a heart vitally in tune with the living God (Pss 16, 34, 40, 63)
As a result of Christ’s finished work on the cross, God now makes his permanent abode in the believer’s heart (Jn 14:23). Hence the fellowship which now prevails under the new covenant is nothing less than the vital, spiritual union of the believer with Christ (Jn 14:20, 21). Fellowship with God is the goal of the Christian life (1 Jn 1:3), and this relationship will be perfected forever when we see our Savior “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12), when God dwells with his people in the heavenly kingdom (Rv 21:3).
The gospel restores fellowship not only with God, but among believers as well. Jesus’ last supper with his disciples illustrates the relationship between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of fellowship (Mk 14:22–25). In the upper room Jesus shared with his disciples a sacred love feast. The hearts of the Lord and his followers were knit together by a deep sense of love and commitment. Later the disciples discovered that their own hearts were strongly united out of their common loyalty to Jesus. Following the cross and the outpouring of the Spirit the church was born, that new society of people in fellowship with God and with one another.
The depth of comraderie among the first Christians is portrayed in the early chapters of Acts. Daily the believers met together in house groups for teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer (Acts 2:42, 46). So profound was their sense of togetherness that the Christians pooled their possessions and distributed them to brethren in need (vv 44, 45; 4:32–35). Perhaps the dominant characteristic of this early Christian fellowship was “love of the brethren” (1 Thes 4:9; 1 Pt 1:22). Constrained by love, Paul organized among the gentile churches a collection for poor believers in Jerusalem. In Romans 15:26, which speaks of the gifts of the churches in Macedonia and Achaia, the word translated “contribution” is the common Greek word for “fellowship.” Similarly, the fellowship which the Philippian church shared with Paul assumed the form of gifts to support the apostle’s ministry (Phil 1:5; 4:14, 15).
Scripture uses several images to describe the spirit of togetherness which characterized the early church. The first is “the household of God” (Eph 2:19; 1 Tm 3:15), or “the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). In God’s household, love and hospitality are to be the rule (Heb 13:1, 2). Further, the church is depicted as the family of God on earth (Eph 3:15). God is the Father and believers are his faithful sons and daughters. The life of God’s family is to be governed by love, tenderness, compassion, and humility (Phil 2:1–4). Finally, the Christian fellowship is represented as the “one new man” or the “one body” (Eph 2:15, 16). In spite of great natural diversity, the Holy Spirit binds believers together into a single organism (4:4–6). In this fellowship of love, no believer is insignificant. Each member has been endowed with gifts for the spiritual edification of the entire body.
Scripture lays down the basis of fellowship in 1 John 1:7: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” Jesus Christ, then, is the source and fount of all spiritual communion. Only when rightly related to the Lord do we experience true fellowship with another Christian. Just as light and darkness are incompatible, so a believer can have no real fellowship with an unbeliever. Neither can the Christian be in fellowship with one who walks contrary to the teaching of Christ (2 Jn 9–11), or a professing brother who is immoral, idolatrous, a drunkard, or a thief (1 Cor 5:11).
Scripture lays down several guidelines for enhancing the communion of believers in the body. (1) Love one another with the same compassion that Christ displayed to his own (Jn 13:34, 35; 15:12). The law of the fellowship should be the rule of love (Heb 13:1). (2) Cultivate that spirit of humility that seeks the other person’s honor (Phil 2:3–5). (3) Lighten fellow believers’ load by bearing one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2). (4) Share material blessings with brothers and sisters in need (2 Cor 9:13). (5) Tenderly correct a sinner while helping to find solutions to the problems (Gal 6:1). (6) Succor a fellow believer in times of suffering (1 Cor 12:26). And (7) Pray for one another in the Spirit without ceasing (Eph 6:18).
The Christian will want to seriously regard the saying of an anonymous saint, “You cannot draw nigh to God if you are at a distance from your brother.”
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 789–790.
Originally bred to hunt, haul sledges, and herd reindeer, the Samoyed dog breed proved a valuable companion for northwestern Siberia’s Samoyede people. Among the breed’s duties: pack hiking, tracking, and warming their owners by sleeping on top of them at night. As a working breed, Samoyeds can be strong-willed at times, but above all they remain friendly, gentle, and devoted family dogs. They’re affectionate with almost everyone, so long as new people don’t mind some shedding and stray hairs on their clothes.
Wild South Africa
Kruger National Park
A female Hyena showing her two siblings how to relax and have fun.
this pic is devoted to the photographers who follow me and they have loads of pics on flickr.
[https://www.flickr.com/people/firozeshakir] 283,016 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/susan_g] 127,191 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk] 98,112 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/42309484@N03] 86,276 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosbysherm] 81,555 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/23757949@N06] 65,043 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/fjbphotos] 54,810 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/dustinholmes] 54,219 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/paspog] 41,543 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/cuatrok77] 39,188 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/arthemis300] 36,519 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/bortescristian] 35,819 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/sicliff] 32,729 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/34362261@N06] 32,566 pics
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/spirosk/] 30,053 pics
they are the first 15 who appear on
[https://www.flickr.com/people/gregouras/contacts/rev/by-photos/]
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
[Romans 12:9-13 NIV]
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)
2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)
4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)
5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)
Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!
R5_07983
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset. England. UK. Europe.
The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships, and paintings and drawings related to naval aviation.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Air_Arm_Museum
Address: RNAS Yeovilton, Ilchester BA22 8HT
More general photographs at:
This is Ella. We aren't sure of her pedigree, but it's apparent she has some American or British bulldog in her.
Ella is absolutely devoted to Charlie. She is normally playful, full of life, and will lick and love you to death. . . . as long as Charlie is around.
Recently, I dog sat, Ella when Charlie was away. That Ella was sad, is an understatement. She followed me with her head hung low and even scratching and petting her massive head didn't alleviate the sadness in her eyes.
I'm going to have some more pictures of Ella. I think her reaction to Charlie's absence was so truly human and the first time I've seen so clearly, a dog's sadness at the absence of it's owner.
The unusually heavy fall did not stop the devoted Catholics from celebrating the Santo Nino Procession in urban Los Angeles, through the streets! Representing the Holy Child the Infant Prince of Peace!
In a gallery devoted to presenting the work of indigenous Australian artists, we find a beautiful video presentation. Unfortunately, I can't tell you who made the video, but the scenes from Central Australia are quite breathtaking. It is an immersive experience with a three screen wrap-around presentation like you see here. I have shown you three still shots from the film.
Photos taken with the Leica D-Lux 7.
New monthly event entirely devoted to man: skin, accessory, clothes, poses etc ..
Mof APP Designe :
frau-mof.wix.com/fraubeachclub#!designers-application/z56fu/
Mof APP Bloggers frau-mof.wix.com/fraubeachclub#!blogger-application/kr4yl/
7784
REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS
Lever de soleil, Sainte-Flavie.
Early morning golden light...
Visit : www.refordgardens.com/
Photo taken close to REFORD GARDENS. (Sainte-Flavie)
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From Wikipedia:
Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.
Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.
Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.
She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.
In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.
During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.
In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.
Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.
To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.
Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.
In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)
Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford
LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS
Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.
Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.
Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada
© Copyright
This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.
Lacul Morii-Bucharest city-Nikon28 80mm f 3,5 5,6
*Not the brand or technique is important in photographic art, but the understanding of the things behind the photographed subjects, the emotion, the composition, the joy or the sadness, the life itself that is mysteriously coming unrepeatable as a gift.
(Horia Stanicel)
* I have seen a large part of the most popular or devoted photographers' photographs over time and of course I can say that most of them have speculated on different situations, angles of photography, shadows, different brightness, feelings, human tragedies, all kinds of paradoxical situations that of course make them noticed. I do not want to bring any name into question for the simple reason that each photographic artist has a unique value. However, I regard the photographic art as a simple spectator that is difficult to be convince most of the times. I contemplate the creation of God and every time I photograph I do not forget how grateful we should be for all the beauty that our Creator gave it to us! People who forget this do nothing but hate themselves and the world they live in and photography is nothing but a mirror of this beautiful or crooked world.(Horia Stanicel)
*Nu aparatul foto sau tehnica este importantă în arta fotografică, ci înțelegerea lucrurilor care stau în spatele subiectelor fotografiate,emoția, compoziția, bucuria sau tristețea, viața însăși care vine tainic irepetabil ca un dar.
(Horia Stanicel)
*Am văzut o mare parte a fotografiilor celor mai populari sau consacrați artiști fotografi de-a lungul timpului și desigur pot spune că majoritatea dintre ei au speculat diversele situații,unghiuri de fotografiere, umbre, luminozitati diferite,sentimente,tragedii umane chiar,tot felul de situații paradoxale care desigur să-i facă remarcați.Nu vreau să aduc vreun nume în discuție pentru simplul motiv că fiecare artist fotograf are o valoare unică. Totuși eu privesc arta fotografică ca un simplu spectator greu de convins de cele mai multe ori.Eu contemplu creația lui Dumnezeu și de fiecare dată când fotografiez nu uit cât de recunoscători ar trebui să fim pentru toată frumusețea pe care Creatorul nostru ne-a daruit-o! Oamenii care uită aceasta nu fac decât să se urâțească pe ei înșiși dar și lumea în care trăiesc iar fotografia nu este decât o oglindă a acestei lumi frumoase sau urâțite.
(Horia Stanicel)
Rabette (Bassist):
Rabette is a devoted animal rights activist, a Virgo, NOT a morning person and can only fall asleep to the soundtrack of 'Too Wong Foo'. Her favorite way to wind down after a show is to devour marshmallow sandwiches while watching reruns of Mork & Mindy. Rabette collects velvet paintings & vintage Macaroni art & the first concert she ever attended was The Sugarcubes in '88. Her heros are Bjork and Betty White.
Baby (Lead Vocalist):
Baby may be small but her voice sure packs a whallop! Before a big show she will gargle a mixture of honey, Paprika and Listerine. When she is not on stage, you can find Baby chilling in the tour bus nerding out playing Sudoku or Tetris. The first band she ever saw live was Weezer. Despite being perfectly geeky & an honorary member of Mensa, Mathew Broderick movies are the only flicks Baby will give the time of day.
Darla (Rhythm Guitar):
Darla is all about groove and feel. She never feels the need to wank out with sweep licks or blistering solos, but instead would rather rip your head off with crushing power chords. During her formative years, Darla followed the on-tour exploits of Pantera & Slayer, honing her own skills with them as their first female roadie. Darla collects Pez dispensers and swears by Probiotic yogurt. She has a little tattoo of William Shatner on her bum.
Percy (Drums):
Percy suffers greatly from Omphalophobia & was recently released into the custody of her band mates following a 90 Day stint in a minimum security prison where she served time for a DUI offence. Percy is 72 days sober and has a new lease on life. Her dream should the band not get signed is to be a pilates instructor in Maui. Percy's first concert was The Fuzzy Pinks back in the late 90's.
My vision of Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, India. It's devoted to goddess Meenakshi, one of Parvati's incarnations.
The high, richly decorated gate tower is called gopura, it is a typical element of many temples in Southern India, every level presenting scenes from hinduist mythology.
Take a closer look at the original here
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Scientific name: Morpho peleides
Wetenschappelijk: Morpho peleides
De onderzijde van de vleugels is bruingekleurd met oogvlekken. De bovenzijde van de vleugels van het vrouwtje is bruin, terwijl dit bij het mannetje blauw is. Deze blauwe vlinder heeft een spanwijdte tussen de 95 en 120 millimeter. De vleugelranden zijn zwart met witte vlekken.
Volwassen vlinders leven voornamelijk van sappen uit rottend fruit en beschadigde bomen.
Deze soort komt voor in de regenwouden van Zuid- en Midden-Amerika, met name in Mexico, Colombia en Venezuela langs bosranden en rivieroevers.
De waardplanten zijn Mucuna, Dalbergia en Pterocarpus uit de familie Fabaceae. De rupsen zijn versierd met kleurige haarbundels. Ze kunnen in noodgevallen een onaangename geurstof afscheiden uit klieren bij het eerste pootpaar.
TRAITS. Morpho peleides is a large resplendent neotropical butterfly which can easily dazzle or
conceal itself from many organisms due to the bicoloration of their wings. The species possess a wing span of 12.7-15.5cm.. The dorsal surface of the wing has a metallic blue base colour edged with a black band and white dots, the ventral surface is patterned differently as it is brown with eyespots. Coloration of the wing is due to the two layers of scales that decorate the wing. As light passes through the microscopic lamellae, all wavelengths but those in the blue region are absorbed resulting in the reflected light being observed as a luminescent blue. The species is characterized by low sexual dimorphism in wing coloration, shape and size with the female being larger than the male. Morpho peleides is a highly diversified species with more than twenty subspecies. The only subspecies found in Trinidad is Morpho peleides insularis also known as the emperor butterfly.
DISTRIBUTION. Widespread over Mexico, South America, Central America, Paraguay and
endemic to Trinidad and Tobago.
HABITAT AND ACTIVITY. Located primarily in rain forests, however the species can be found in habitats ranging from mountains, ravines, cleared lands, streams to housing settlements.
Habitat preference differs with respect to the sex of the individual. The males are more easily spotted as they are prone to flying in open areas while females prefer to remain hidden within the boundaries of the forests. Morpho peleides are diurnal insects appearing throughout the day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Their flight is characterized as powerful, erratic and extraordinarily deceptive. They have a short life span, so most of its time is devoted to reproducing and feeding. Morpho peleides is a social species of butterfly that congregates in large groups. The species has an average lifespan ranging from 76-115 days.
FOOD AND FEEDING. Food and feeding habitats change throughout the stages of its life but the species remain as herbivores for their entire life. Feeding activity in larvae of all instars (stages) is bimodal, that is, feeding occurs twice throughout the day, at dawn and dusk. Upon hatching, the first instar larva devours its empty shell, which provides
an initial source of carbohydrates and proteins before it begins to feed on the host plant tissue.
Second to fifth instar larvae consume mainly plant species of legumes, euphorbias and grasses.
However, an exception is seen in Trinidad, where they feed on Paragonia pyriamidata in the Bignoniaceae. This may be an adaptive feeding mechanism due to colonization on an island devoid of leguminous flora. Larvae at all instars only feed on older leaves of the host plants. The adult has a proboscis, a straw like mouth piece that enables the
species to feed easily, however due to the lack of saliva, the butterfly's diet is limited to fluids.
Adults feed on rotting or fermenting fruits of various kinds. In some environments they feed on patches of fermenting fungi found on living and decomposing trees.
REPRODUCTION. The mating habits of the species is fairly standard, the male courts the female via various flight patterns and if she accepts his advances they mate. Female
oviposition (egg laying) sites are specific to one host plant. Ovipositioning occurs individually on the dorsal surface of older leaves of host plants, with a maximum of eight eggs laid on the same plant and up to fifteen eggs laid in a single field. The species undergoes eight stages in their development cycle: the egg, the larva which has five instars, pupa and adult.
The egg is translucent with a ring of brown dots. The larvae are colourful with multicoloured serial designs on the back, with tufts in earlier stages, while larvae in their fifth instar are patterned with a brownish colouring.
BEHAVIOUR. Juvenile behaviour: The juvenile stages of Morpho peleides occur from the egg to the pupa in which they show distinct behaviours at each stage. Younger larvae rest on the ventral sides of older leaves while older larvae rest on exposed stems and branches in direct sunlight). The positioning of the younger larvae conceals them from predators, while the position of the older larvae allows them to maintain their position while maximizing
efficiency of feeding. If the larvae is not feeding on the host plant, they rest upon a silken mat with silk trails connecting to feeding sites. These mats are built throughout larval life and are essential to their survival, as it is needed for movement along the plant, without it they encounter difficulty in traversing the leaf and retaining their balance.
Anti-predator behaviour: There is a high degree of parasitism and a low degree of predation on both eggs and larvae. This is due to adaptive behaviours of the species. The egg is laid on a host plant in such a way that it is camouflaged. The larvae and pupa are also camouflaged due to similar coloration to the host plant, and because the plants they feed
on contain toxins that affect their predators. The larvae at all instars display aggressive behaviour in response to physical contact. Older larvae of the fifth instar secrete a strong rancid butter-like odour from an orifice between the forelegs when threatened. At the adult stage, selection pressure favoured the evolution of warning coloration and partial crypsis, which allows the butterfly to adapt its visibility through camouflage. In addition, their large wingspan and bright colouring confounds potential predators when flapped rapidly, temporarily blinding them. They also maintain an irregular flight pattern and seldom take the same route twice.
APPLIED ECOLOGY. The species is not listed in the IUCN database, however they are
threatened by deforestation.