Wrong Side - _TNY_6433
Here's one from my butterfly house visits that I wish I had caught with the wings open.
It's a great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), named so because how the females care for their eggs.
After inspecting leaves to make sure there are no ants present, they place the eggs in a small batch and then stand guard over them, forming a protective umbrella over them to shield them from parasitoid wasps. They remain there until all the eggs have hatched, at which point she normally have died, in situ.
In New Zealand, I believe they call it the blue moon butterfly as the dark dorsal side of the wings have large white spots with a blue edge.
Hopefully, I'll come across one which is more accomodating on the next visit.
Wrong Side - _TNY_6433
Here's one from my butterfly house visits that I wish I had caught with the wings open.
It's a great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), named so because how the females care for their eggs.
After inspecting leaves to make sure there are no ants present, they place the eggs in a small batch and then stand guard over them, forming a protective umbrella over them to shield them from parasitoid wasps. They remain there until all the eggs have hatched, at which point she normally have died, in situ.
In New Zealand, I believe they call it the blue moon butterfly as the dark dorsal side of the wings have large white spots with a blue edge.
Hopefully, I'll come across one which is more accomodating on the next visit.