They're happily settled in for the winter, Wurzel!
It was my birthday today - 52 - so Minnie and I headed off to the Papiliorama to escape the cold. Well, I escaped the cold. She had to wait in the dog hotel outside while I photographed the butterflies, but she always enjoys the journey, and just being with me for the day.
There was plenty to see today, though as it was so gloomy outside it was also rather dark inside and good photos were difficult. They were obviously doing a promotion on
Graphium agamemenon, because this species was abundant. I first saw it in the wild just outside Mysore, in India, and it always brings back happy memories. Here are a few from today:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/agamemnon16feb2016a.jpg)
(with
Idea leuconoe,
Catonephele numilia just below the middle pair and a
Heliconid lurking at the bottom of the picture)
Another species I saw properly for the first time in Mysore was
Danaus genutia, a close relative of the monarch,
Danaus plexippus. There were a few of these about today:
Plexippus and
chrysippus were also flying:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/plexippus16feb2016a.jpg)
(a rubbish shot of
plexippus)
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/chrysippus16feb2016a.jpg)
(an equally rubbish shot of
chrysippus - I only include these to complete the Old World
Danaus trio)
Lexias pardalis is another Indian species, but one I haven't seen in the wild. Males and females were sitting around today all over the place, never interacting. These are both males:
From Old World to New World - there are always several
Ithomiids in the Papiliorama. This is
Tithorea harmonia:
And this is
T. tarricina:
Superficially, this last closely resembles
Heliconius hecale, with which it was flying today:
Heliconius is a mystery genus to me. There often seems to be more variation within than between species and without knowing where an individual comes from the books are not always that useful (not that I've had time to go to the books since getting home this evening). I'm not sure what species either of the following two are:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/heliconiussp16feb2016b.jpg)
(photographed from a great distance, right across the Papiliorama)
Heliconius melpomene is a case in point. I think these are all
melpomene but really have no idea:
If Mr Spock is reading this he might comment, being an expert on
Heliconius!
This is
Cethosia cyane, from the Old World ...
... and
Catonephele numilia from the New:
There were loads of Old and New World swallowtails, mostly tiptoeing delicately over the flowers, impossible to photograph. A few that stopped briefly were this
Papilio constantinus ...
... its close relative,
Papilio thoas ...
... and this
Papilio demodocus:
Also flying today were
Papilio nireus,
Papilio helenus,
Papilio polytes,
Papilio lowi,
Papilio dardanus,
Papilio rumanzovia and
Atrophaneura semperi - I've probably forgotten some of the other swallowtails - there were loads.
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/polytes16feb2016a.jpg)
(
polytes)
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/semperi16feb2016a.jpg)
(
semperi)
I could definitely bore for England when it comes to butterfly photos, and I took over 200 today. So I close with a couple of
Siproeta stelenes and a couple of cats -
Morpho peleides and
Papilio thoas respectively:
Oh - and a sunbird:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/papiliorama/sunbird16feb2016a.jpg)
(I never use flash on birds or mammals, so it's a bit blurry)
Guy