Sapphire butterfly

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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SteveB
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:12 pm
Location: Pretoria South Africa

Sapphire butterfly

Post by SteveB »

At the moment, Iolaus trimeni or Trimen's sapphire is probably my favorite butterfly to photograph. Their white underside is remarkably difficult to see against the shiny dark green leaves of the small trees they tend to prefer. Usually they go to small hilltops and settle as high as possible, which can make photographing them quite frustrating. One sees an electric blue flash as they circle around and then they settle just out of reach.

Fortunately, I have found a place where the highest bush has a huge boulder right next to it. It's not really their favorite place, but when they do settle there one can get slightly higher than them and get a photo from above.
Image

Like many of the blues, they have an eye spot and fake antennae on the hind wing. Here is a picture of one bitten right on the eye spot.
Image

zzffnn
Posts: 1896
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 1:25 pm
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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Post by zzffnn »

Nice capture! The fake antenna is very interesting and effective; the bite surely shows it.

It must have taken quite some effort and patience to chase these fast butterflies. I haven't had luck with shooting butterflies, unless they are cold and wet.

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