My Garden Haven...A Fine Romance: 2011-08-28

Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Cruiser and the Archduke

The Cruiser was playing hard to get with me. I kept trailing her...it was not difficult to spot her...the mustard-coloured wings stood out against the foliage, and she moved rather gracefully, not flapping or darting around like some of the others were wont to do. Well, you'd expect it of the Cruiser, named for its cruisin' style of flying. Cool butterfly name.

The Cruiser Butterfly
Vindula erota

It is also known as the Banded Treebrown, but I like it fine as the Cruiser. It got that name for its flying motions of swooping and soaring. Imagine that! No, I mean just imagine that scene...when it flies over oceans...fabulous, huh? This butterfly is found not only in South-east Asia, but also Australia and the South Pacific Islands! Frequent flyers, aren't they?

The Archduke
Lexias pardalis dirteana

This butterfly also loves to be photographed with his velvety wings spreadout, showing off his royal blue trimming on his hindwings. Almost all his poses were in this similar manner. Really easy to shoot.
The Archduke loves passiflora plants. I happen to have two pergolas full of passiflora, and now, my ambition is to capture this Archduke among the vines.I wonder how long I'll have to be out in the garden... Oh well, I'll just not wait for him to make an appearance. I'll have his men send me an announcement of when he'll arrive.

The Archduke is a resident of South-east Asia, despite his European title. He loves the shade and avoids direct sunshine. This species is rather large, about 150mm.The Archduke may be heavy, but he is quick. He flies fast when disturbed from his favourite haunt, the undergrowth of forest floors where he feeds on organic forest litter.

we soar, glide alike

we mirror each other's heart

but we're worlds apart

Linking to:

Haiku My Heart
Haiku Heights
Weekend Flowers
Macro Flowers Saturday
Photo Challenge:
Fabulous Friday
Mosaic Monday
Macro Monday
Mellow Yellow Monday
Thursday Poets Rally
Poetry Pantry
Poetry Train Revisited
Share The Joy Thursday
SOOC
Today's Flowers
Macro Monday
Mosaic Monday

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Caught Flitting and Flirting

For those who love butterflies as much as I do, here's the second part of my double-features on butterfly profiles. The two species I've picked this week are the Spotted Black Crow and the Asian Swallowtail.

The Spotted Black Crow
Euploea crameri

It has a somewhat dull colouring, and because of that, it is unattractive to predators. Even birds are said to dislike the taste of this dull butterfly. Smart butterfly, is what I say!
The upperside of the wings is very dark, more blackish than brownish. That accounts for it being named the Spotted Black (not brown) Crow. And where is it spotted? On the head, thorax and abdomen. A lovely white polka-dotted design. You can see this clearly in the photograph below.

For Leo at Haiku Heights:

I'll write you my thoughts

of how you charm my senses

iridescent love

The Asian Swallowtail
Papilio low ii

The Great Mormon
Papilio memnon

These are two indistinguishable species which are identical, and there are no consistent rules to tell them apart. As such, the shiny black butterfly above can be said to be either the Asian Swallowtail, or the Great Mormon! The fact is, both categories are swallowtails which are large, colourful butterflies from the family Papilonidae. The plain black one is the male of the species and the colourful ones in the three photographs below are the females.

I love the photograph below where I caught the Spotted Black Crow and the Asian Swallowtail on the same bunch of flowers at the same time. They both seem to like the hydrangea.