Thursday, October 25, 2012

Gangara thyrsis - Giant Redeye Butterfly

I was online one night tapping on the keyboard when this little fella landed on my screen, peppering it with its powdery scales. I thought it was a moth as it was still active at that time of the night but on closer examination, found that it was actually a butterfly.
Its wings were folded up at rest and its antennae are long, ending in clubs.


This butterfly actually has several yellow markings on the upper side of the wings. A small sliver of yellow is visible here, having been overlapped by the hind wings.



 It was either admiring its reflection in the screen or it thought it was embracing another butterfly.

 I touched it slightly and it flew off and landed on a metal sieve which I've left to air-dry on the kitchen dish rack.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."  ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne


 The ruby-coloured eyes were like pomengranate globules. I think of it as a bejewelled gold brooch. The long burgundy tongue was coiled up. It would be extended out to reach for nectar which is very much akin to using a straw.

Autumn leaves, a holly leaf and an Apple

I was still in Cork when I accidentally pressed the 'publish' button of the draft version on 25 Oct. I think it was up online for about ten minutes when I noticed two comments from fellow bloggers, Rohrerbot and Giga. I have to revert it to draft as the captions was incomplete. This is my first post (re-published) since my arrival home in Malaysia about 6 hours ago.


23 comments:

  1. WHOA!!! That air is really really cool! Nice macro!! I've seen something like this on a moth before.

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    1. Thaat is the bokeh effect with the various household objects in the background.

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  2. Ma niesamowite oczy, a zdjęcia są świetne. Pozdrawiam.
    He has an amazing eye and the photos are great. Yours.

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    1. Thanks for the compliments. The eyes appear like red hexagonal discs on close-ups. From far I'd like to think of it as pomengranate seeds with juicy ruby flesh.

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  3. Welcome home! I wouldn't have imagined it, but this butterfly appears even more interesting against these household objects. Your third photo is so beautiful, the reflection, the background colours, and of course the butterfly itself :) Awesome macros!

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    1. Thanks, its great to be back after this meaningful hiatus. The background comprised different sources of light; ceiling lights, chandelier, and light from the laptop. Its glass screen effectively becomes a mirror.

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  4. Sensations, happiness, illusions and love are the words of romance. Regards and have a great week.

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  5. Your photos always, what an interesting butterfly!

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    1. Butterlies are always beautiful, whatever their colours and wing patterns. This particular one has rather different look on the upper surface which is not as easy to photograph as the wings are usually folded up.

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  6. Hi Stiletto, thanks for visiting my site i was led here. I browsed on your past posts and we have a lot in common with our subjects. Although i must confess, you have nicer shots, and maybe better lens, hahaha! Your hibiscus shots are almost the same as my previous post in my other blogsite, you might want to peep there! That shot of the snake is very beautiful.

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    1. Thanks for compliments on shots. Don't know about better lens though. Can get good close-ups with compact point-n-shoot cameras too. I browsed through your post of hibiscus featuring the reproductive organ. Your hibiscus hybrids are so lush and gorgeous. Love your formal bouquet too.

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  7. Wonderful macro shots of your friendly butterfly and i love your quote, so true!

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    1. Thsnks. It was probably really friendly or fascinated by the pictures of flowers on my screen.

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  8. Hello Stiletto, I am very excited to nominate you for a Beautiful Blogger Award because I just love your blog! To accept all you have to do is tell us 7 things about yourself and nominate 15 other bloggers. You can find the BBA thumbnail on my blog if you'd like to post it on yours and, you know, show it off :)

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    1. Thanks Rosemary. I was nominated before for another gardening award. However at that time I just got back to blogging after a one year hiatus and was actually not familiar with the blog structure. Now that I'm better at navigating around, I think this time I will act on the nomination.

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  9. Incredible photos of the butterfly! It looks so furry close up. :o)

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    1. Yes, almost made me think that it was a moth.

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  10. What incredible closeups you managed to get. You don't often get to see a tiny creature like this in such detail. Even though the butterfly is mostly tan-colored, it is really quite beautiful.

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    1. The tan colour is the underside of the wings. On the upperside the forewings are pale and the tam hind wings have yellow splashes. Its actually beautiful.

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  11. Amazed to see the butterfly having eyes that really look like it was having pupil. Beautiful

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    1. I can't believe my eyes when I first saw them - such inflammed eyes. I hope it is not seeing red.

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  12. I've spent all summer trying to get butterfly photos without much success. They fly away as soon as they see a camera. But yours actually came to your computer, and posed for photos. Brilliant.

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    1. Yes, it couldn't possibly be more serendipitous!

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