The very first time I visited, a few female Lexias pardalis were sitting around doing very little. Today there were one or two females but also lots of males, mostly freshly emerged and zooming around all over the place:
This is an East Asian butterfly that flies in the Philippines, so it is possible, if the timing is right, that Tony will post some pictures of wild individuals.
The second new butterfly for me was not a species but a form. The African swallowtail Papilio dardanus is known as the 'mocker' because of the huge variety of female morphs. Today a beautiful orange female was flying:
The white form I have seen on most visits was also present:
Last time, I showed some photographs of small caterpillars of Papilio thoas. The only caterpillar of that species I found today was huge but for the first time the adults were present - in small numbers, so perhaps 'naturally' bred rather than introduced from the breeding rooms. Like most swallowtails they were constantly moving but one stayed still briefly for a photo:
Here is the caterpillar, photographed from a very great distance as it was the wrong side of a leaf!
Another new species for me was the incessantly bobbing glasswing, Greta oto:
I had hoped to see this in due course but was completely enchanted when I did. It is an exquisite butterfly. In flight, only the white lights on the forewings are really visible and when it settles it is completely transparent, like glass.
I have been identifying the leaf butterflies I've seen here as Kallima paralekta but today, for the first time, I saw one with its wings open and could identify it as inachus. What a staggeringly beautiful butterfly!
In India I have seen Danaus genutia, a close relative of the monarch, Danaus plexippus. Both species were flying in the Papiliorama today:
(genutia)
(plexippus)
Because the light is actually very dim in the butterfly house my camera struggles with those swallowtails that never seem to stop moving. In India, in the bright light of day, I managed to take a few shots of Papilio polytes tiptoeing over the flowers (I used to save all my pictures at smaller sizes than I do now):
(Kolkata, April 2010)
Today, I was surrounded by polytes, or the polytes group, both tailed and untailed, and wanted to get some shots as Tony has been sending the wild photos from the Philippines. But it was impossible! The best shot I got of an untailed male was this:
And the only shot of a tailed male was this:
I took dozens more shots of many species, including several new ones to me, but will resist the temptation to post them all! Here, instead, are a few I haven't identified yet - though I admit I also haven't got the books out yet, so I might come back with the names quite soon. But in the meantime, any suggestions are welcome.
The first only ever posed to show its underside, but when it flew showed a rather dull buff upperside, bordered, I think, with dark:
The next is a species of Charaxes. Unfortunately, it was way above my head and I could only take very distant shots:
Thirdly, this rather small swallowtail:
This exotic bird took a great interest in my activities:
In this picture, two polytes can be seen in the vegetation behind him:
I noted from Susie's post that the Wisley glasshouse will soon be hosting butterflies. I have started putting together a webpage of all the species I've identified so far in the Papiliorama, which might be a useful guide to the butterflies there. But then again, they doubtless provide their own guide.
Guy
