Communal Dragonfly, Butterfly and Insect photo thread

[blackfox]

one from a month or two back
dragons rest by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr

[Gate Keeper]

Seen in the garden yesterday, a pretty Dark Blue Pansy Butterfly


Junonia oenone dark blue pansy by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[MJ224]

Lovely butterfly and great photo Phil...

[art frames]

Agreed, lovely insect, Phil. Seasons greetings and hope you are well. Peter

[Gate Keeper]

Thank you Mark and Peter for your excellent comments. Here are some more examples of beautiful insects photographed over Christmas in the garden.....



Narrow Green Band Swallowtail by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr



Narrow green-banded swallowtail by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr



Rose chafers by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr



Dark Blue Pansy by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr



African Queen by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[art frames]

Phil, I love the colours in your garden. Ours looks like a very dead and dreary place. So nice to see you out and taking shots. I must look up the African Queen. It has some resemblance to a Monarch

[Gate Keeper]

Seen in a hedge today, an African Queen

African Queen by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[art frames]

Hi Phil, having looked at the Queen alongside others in the family (including the Monarch and Soldier) I feel the Queen is the nicest looking. But envious of the opportunity to see them. This specimen looks less worn and well worth some more shots...😉

[Gate Keeper]

Good morning Peter and fellow/lady butterfly insect lovers. One day last week, we had thousands of butterflies flying across our small holding in an east to west direction. Some have decided to say and yesterday I managed to take photos of some of them. The garden is looking very beautiful with everything in bloom and green from the 3 months of long rains. Our house overlooks a large lawn which we used for croquet over Christmas and the house overlooks the forest. Yesterday, I had to chase out a young bull as it wanted to drink from our pool and I was worried it might fall in. Someone had left the garden gate open from the stables and it had wandered into the garden looking for flowers and grasses to munch on..... Here is a photo I took yesterday of a 'Painted Lady'...corrected by Peter to Junonia sophia, Little Commodore. Thank you Peter.



Junonia Sophia - Little Commodore by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[art frames]

Phil, lovely story and a wonderful sight I'm sure. I look forward to seeing as many as you like (sorry anyone else!). In the meantime I must try and establish this ID. It isn't a painted lady, but looks lovely anyway.

[art frames]

Hi Phil, I am inclined to suggest a Junonia sophia, little commodore, there are over thirty species in the Junonia family genus with a few subspecies and colour variations on top. So it may be one of these. But the little commodore is widespread and found in degraded forest habitats, e.g. in clearings, glades and along wide logging roads. It is also common in parks and gardens. It is communal flying in groups and sounds about right to me.

[Gate Keeper]

Hi Peter, without sounding corny, I want to thank you for helping me with the I.D

I wonder if you might know the name of this butterfly? I googled the image and it came up with Limenitis camilla, but I am not so sure. A couple of photos I took yesterday, grab shots.



Eurytela hiarbus by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr



Eurytela hiarbus by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[art frames]

Hi Peter, without sounding corny, I want to thank you for helping me with the I.D

I wonder if you might know the name of this butterfly? I googled the image and it came up with Limenitis camilla, but I am not so sure. A couple of photos I took yesterday, grab shots.

Hi Phil. Well if you give me a while I'll have a look. I can promise you it isn't Limenitis camilla, a White Admiral. That is a European species and one I see locally which looks like this.

White Admiral by Peter Willmott, on Flickr

But I will endeavour to find an African species to help.

I'd have so much fun in your garden with some of the insects! Not sure I could cope with the muggers and robbers and other stuff though.

[art frames]

I wonder if you might know the name of this butterfly?

OK, so it looks a fair fit to a pied piper, Eurytela hiarbas. I would suggest you have a look at Adrian Hoskin's site. He is a world famous butterfly photographer. I have one of his books. He has a good section on African butterflies https://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Africa - Eurytela hiarbas.htm

[art frames]

Phil you may want to submit your sitings to LepiMAP - a sitings database part of the Lepidopterists society of Africa. They map all sitings and help with IDs on photographs. It is just a small bit of conservation support. Not sure if you have to join but have a look https://www.lepsocafrica.org/?p=projects&s=lepimap

[Gate Keeper]

Thanks Peter, I checked with LepiMAP on facebook (I am a member), thank you for the pointer and Steve Woodall from Lepsocafrica confirmed Eurytela hiarbus, the very same you named. Thank you very much. To be honest, I believe the robberies to our property is seasonal and after new year, there won't be any more. The robbers are more frightened of me, than I am of them. Our property is high altitude at 2,000m and it has a medicinal forest which drops into a gorge and a lower meadow with a waterfall and a spring, beyond are the remains of a coffee plantation, most of which was sold to developers. We have stables, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a meadow we keep for the wild life and insects. When the grass becomes too long, it is cut for the Jersey cows, lots of manure. The cows are milked by hand twice a day and the milk is sold to the locals who prefer it to pasteurised milk, as it is very rich and tasty. A separator from the UK, helps to make butter, yoghurt and ice cream from the milk. The weather has been kind to us today, dry and 23C.

[art frames]

Hi Phil, glad we all agree on the name and I'm always happy to offer a quick check. But it is always nice to let the locals know they have some people interested and reporting sightings too.
Your home sounds wonderful. I hope you get to enjoy it for many years to come and keep up the interest in posting your butterflies. But with the waterfall and forest I imagine the amphibians and birds are fantastic too...I know I have seen a few birds already but I guess you have a lot more to share.
I am booked to a trip to Spain next year where it is normal to see over 100 different species in a week. I know Adrian leads trips to Africa, I must see what he feels I would see..not sure I am totally built for the heat and travel. Maybe one day.

[Gate Keeper]

A happy new year to you Peter and insect admirers and lovers. I have just spent the past hour reading through Adrian's website, what an interesting and resourceful gentleman. Thanks for his link. I think I will be spending more time in the UK this year. The heat varies in the tropics and between May and October is our coolest months. At the coast of Kenya at this time of the year, the temps range from 28C - 36C. I don't know many people who enjoy those temps, although Spain can be that hot in the summer. We own an acre of land at the coast with its own beach of white sand and mangroves sheltered by a reef. I don't think we will ever live there, because of the heat but now it is a bad time to sell because of poor property prices.

Here is a photo I took on 29 December



Catopsilia florella also known as African emigrant by philip Gate Keeper, on Flickr

[bigsambwfc]

http://Red admiral hughenden manor 12/1/20 by Walter Warburton, on Flickrmk2 p/l 100/400lens

[blackfox]

large white butterfly ,n.wales OMD.MKii and pl 100-400 handheld
large white delight by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr

[blackfox]

migrant hawker dragonfly OMD.MKii and pl100-400 hand held
dragons rest by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr

[blackfox]

Hover-fly same rig as above hand held
one size fits all by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr

[blackfox]

last years painted lady invasion ,this time Panasonic G80 + PL 100-400 handheld
lady love by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr