Mussa's Swallowtail - _TNY_6847
One thing I really enjoy when visiting the Haga Ocean butterfly house is the people. I mean, I obviously really like the amazing butterflies and moths, but talking to the other visitors is way more satisfying than I would have thought.
I pointed out a pretty butterfly to a boy named Mussa and his mom who I met there and it turned out he wanted to be a biologist when he grew up.
Eventually, they went to have a look at the sharks instead while I stayed among the butterflies - but then he came back and said he had found a pretty one which I should see!
This turned out to be this female scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) which had landed kind of low and a little bit in from the path so without his help, I wouldhave missed it.
I think this is a very attractive species and the females like this one are mimicking the red-bodied swallowtails in the Atrophaneura, Byasa, Losaria, or Pachliopta genera which are unpalatable to birds. They still haven't evolved far enough to get the red sections on the actual body though. The only species of these that I have seen at the butterfly house is the pink rose (Pachliopta kotzebuea) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53653353383/
Mussa's Swallowtail - _TNY_6847
One thing I really enjoy when visiting the Haga Ocean butterfly house is the people. I mean, I obviously really like the amazing butterflies and moths, but talking to the other visitors is way more satisfying than I would have thought.
I pointed out a pretty butterfly to a boy named Mussa and his mom who I met there and it turned out he wanted to be a biologist when he grew up.
Eventually, they went to have a look at the sharks instead while I stayed among the butterflies - but then he came back and said he had found a pretty one which I should see!
This turned out to be this female scarlet mormon (Papilio rumanzovia) which had landed kind of low and a little bit in from the path so without his help, I wouldhave missed it.
I think this is a very attractive species and the females like this one are mimicking the red-bodied swallowtails in the Atrophaneura, Byasa, Losaria, or Pachliopta genera which are unpalatable to birds. They still haven't evolved far enough to get the red sections on the actual body though. The only species of these that I have seen at the butterfly house is the pink rose (Pachliopta kotzebuea) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53653353383/