I got back from India tonight, after a fascinating ten days. It was mostly family stuff, and mostly in towns, but I snuck off to photograph butterflies whenever possible and saw some wonderful things I've never seen before. It will take a while to process all my pictures, but here are some blues to start off with, as they are my favourite group of butterflies. I hope the IDs are correct - don't hesitate to tell me if not! I'm going to pass all my IDs by an Indian web site for confirmation when I've got the pictures online.
Probably the commonest blue I saw was the familiar long-tailed blue (Lampides boeticus):
This was just one of seven tailed species that crossed my path. Flying with the long-tailed blues in Kolkata were very elegant forget-me-nots (Catochrysops strabo):
Next, also in Kolkata, came the plains cupid (Chilades pandava):
Down south, I saw gram blues (Euchrysops cnejus):
In Mysore, the common cerulean (Jamides celeno) danced around bushes and hedges:
The dark cerulean (Jamides bochus), which also flew in Mysore, had an upperside of brillant, lustrous, deep blue (but it never settled with the upperside visible):
Last of the tails was zebra blue (Leptotes plinius), which flew quite commonly in the south. It is closely related to Lang's short-tailed blue:
This next species is really in the tailed group, but lacks one. It is the tailless lineblue (Prosotas dubiosa indica):
And to finish off, four species of grass blue, beginning with the dark grass blue (Zizeeria karsandra):
This is the much larger pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha):
The lesser grass blue (Zizina otis) lacks a cell spot:
Finally, my favourite, the minuscule tiny grass blue (Zizula hylax) which I saw in Kolkata. This female, laying eggs, was one of the smallest butterflies I've ever seen:
Guy
Some Indian Blues
- Padfield
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Some Indian Blues
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- Pete Eeles
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Re: Some Indian Blues
Wonderful pics Guy - sounds like you had a great time putting your ID skills to the test
I especially like the Grass Blue shot, given their size - a species I'd love to see one day!
Cheers,
- Pete
I especially like the Grass Blue shot, given their size - a species I'd love to see one day!
Cheers,
- Pete
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- Lee Hurrell
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Re: Some Indian Blues
Good stuff Guy, I'm looking forward to the rest!
You can tell the tiny grass blue is indeed tiny, compare her antenna with the length of the forewing!
Cheers
Lee
You can tell the tiny grass blue is indeed tiny, compare her antenna with the length of the forewing!
Cheers
Lee
To butterfly meadows, chalk downlands and leafy glades; to summers eternal.
Re: Some Indian Blues
Fantastic Guy, show us some more when you can..