Red, Black and a Lot of Eye Detail - _TNY_2570
On today's (24th of April, 2023) visit to the Haga Ocean Butterfly House, I found a real treat - two males of the species known as the pink rose (Pachliopta kotzebuea).
They were initially hanging out in the chrysalides cabinet, but eventually first one and then the other one took off.
After a bit of searching, I managed to locate and shoot them both.
This species belongs to the group known as the red-bodied swallowtails (no points for guessing why) which are interesting. As I understand it, these are poisonous and the red colour is a warning to predators that they are unpalatable.
But since it is butterflies, there is a whole bunch of mimicry involved. The mormon butterflies like the great yellow mormon (Papilio lowi) and scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) all try and mimic these to piggyback on the defensive tactics of the red-bodied species.
Do take the time to zoom in on the eye of this one. Not only did the Sigma 180m manage to capture some sweet detail on the compound eye, but there is also a small droplet of water on one of them which came out looking cool!
Here is a shot of a scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) - I'm sure you can see the mimicry: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52793446159/
P.S.
In case you're wondering about the origin of the scientific name, it was named by naturalist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz for his commander named Otto von Kotzebue on the Russian ship The Rurik on its circumnavigational voyage from 1815-1818. The same von Eschscholtz also named P. rumanzovia after the Russian chancellor Nikolai Rumyantsev, presumably on the same trip.
Red, Black and a Lot of Eye Detail - _TNY_2570
On today's (24th of April, 2023) visit to the Haga Ocean Butterfly House, I found a real treat - two males of the species known as the pink rose (Pachliopta kotzebuea).
They were initially hanging out in the chrysalides cabinet, but eventually first one and then the other one took off.
After a bit of searching, I managed to locate and shoot them both.
This species belongs to the group known as the red-bodied swallowtails (no points for guessing why) which are interesting. As I understand it, these are poisonous and the red colour is a warning to predators that they are unpalatable.
But since it is butterflies, there is a whole bunch of mimicry involved. The mormon butterflies like the great yellow mormon (Papilio lowi) and scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) all try and mimic these to piggyback on the defensive tactics of the red-bodied species.
Do take the time to zoom in on the eye of this one. Not only did the Sigma 180m manage to capture some sweet detail on the compound eye, but there is also a small droplet of water on one of them which came out looking cool!
Here is a shot of a scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) - I'm sure you can see the mimicry: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52793446159/
P.S.
In case you're wondering about the origin of the scientific name, it was named by naturalist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz for his commander named Otto von Kotzebue on the Russian ship The Rurik on its circumnavigational voyage from 1815-1818. The same von Eschscholtz also named P. rumanzovia after the Russian chancellor Nikolai Rumyantsev, presumably on the same trip.