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Beauty on Boring Background - _TNY_1765

Sometimes, the interesting butterflies at the butterfly house aren't posing perfectly on a leaf in awesome light or perched atop some cool flower - but they are still interesting and beutiful butterflies so I feel I have to photograph them anyway.

 

This one was resting on the metal grating beneath the chrysalis/coccoon cabinet which made for a very boring background - but those blue bands are to die for - plus this is the first time I come across this particular species.

 

The species is called the African blue-banded swallowtail (Papilio nireus), also known as the green-banded swallowtail or narrow-banded blue swallowtail. Given the smallish size, I'd say it is a male, but it never showed the ventral side of the wings so I couldn't verify properly.

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Uploaded on February 18, 2023
Taken on February 17, 2023