The Perfect Habitat, Pt. 2 - TNY_2475
I decided to visit the (sort of) local butterfly house (the Haga Butterfly House in Stockholm Sweden) in late March as the chance of finding invertebrates otherwise then is pretty slim.
They have a no flash policy there which led to me borrowing my brother's Canon 6D since it handles higher ISO better than my camera (a 5D mkII at the time).
There I stumbled onto this scene. It's a male scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) which was dying on the large leaf of a Monstera when some ants found it. I'm not entirely sure, but people who know better tell me this should be common red ants (Myrmica rubra) a species also known as European fire ant due to their painful bite/sting (though a far cry from the real fire ants).
They were swarming over the poor butterfly and killed it off rather quickly.
These ants don't have to hibernate and also prefer a higher humidity so the butterfly house looks like the perfect place for them with tropical temperatures the year around coupled with humans bringing in fresh butterflies all the time.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/47682551652/
The Perfect Habitat, Pt. 2 - TNY_2475
I decided to visit the (sort of) local butterfly house (the Haga Butterfly House in Stockholm Sweden) in late March as the chance of finding invertebrates otherwise then is pretty slim.
They have a no flash policy there which led to me borrowing my brother's Canon 6D since it handles higher ISO better than my camera (a 5D mkII at the time).
There I stumbled onto this scene. It's a male scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) which was dying on the large leaf of a Monstera when some ants found it. I'm not entirely sure, but people who know better tell me this should be common red ants (Myrmica rubra) a species also known as European fire ant due to their painful bite/sting (though a far cry from the real fire ants).
They were swarming over the poor butterfly and killed it off rather quickly.
These ants don't have to hibernate and also prefer a higher humidity so the butterfly house looks like the perfect place for them with tropical temperatures the year around coupled with humans bringing in fresh butterflies all the time.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/47682551652/