Have you Chased a Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Butterfly?
Have you chased a butterfly? Have you Chased a Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail Butterfly any day?
Chasing a butterfly can mean: to follow or run after (a person, animal, or goal) persistently or quickly. But here I mean a real flying butterfly. They never sit still.
I spotted this beautiful butterfly while waiting outside my daughters’ drawing class. It was flying on one side of the road one minute and the next minute it was on the other side of the road. How I wished it would sit still… and just as I was chasing and praying hard, I was granted a shot.
Few moments of bliss. My outstretched hands clutching my camera were beginning to ache as I approached it slowly and clicked at it from every possible angle. (It must have been an odd sight because I did hear the drivers standing at the roadside commenting and laughing to themselves.)
Pictures of Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail Butterfly
Seeing the prints at home, I discovered that one of its tails was missing. It is the Ruby Spotted Swallowtail. The Swallowtail species have two tails at the rear which are mistaken as antennas by the birds.
The bright red spots in iridescent blue in the rear, fools the birds into believing them as eyes. Some bird must have pecked at this butterfly’s tail end, but it is still alive!
Have you Chased a Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Butterfly?
Ruby Spotted Swallowtail
Scientific name: Papilio anchisiades
Family and subfamily: Papiliondae
Phylum and subphylum: Arthropoda
Class and subclass: Insecta
More Swallowtail pictures here.
Strange are the nature’s ways. She has given such tiny insects the means to protect themselves from their natural enemies. Some of them mimic scary animals to frighten the predators away. I tried to get closer to capture just its body but it fled before that. I cursed myself for having got greedier.
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach.
amazed at your knowledge..I see so many of them flitting around and half the time, I cannot distingush a moth from a butterfly 🙁
lakshmi
Thanks Simone and Celine.
I thank my stars too for the butterfly posed for me for those few minutes. 🙂
Interesting post with good links and lovely pictures. I love butterflies. 🙂
What a blessing. Great shot. Loved the story.
Thanks Shubha, Raji.
Welcome Lakshmi and yes i do carry my camera with me, it is a tiny one. Thanks to digital tech.
Beautiful Photos. Hey, do you carry a camera everywhere? I mean, to your daughter’s drawing classes and all! But really wonderful photos…a v nice post!:)
What lovely pictures, and a nice post! How did butterflies get to be beautiful enough to compete with flowers?
What magnificent pictures Indrani ..well worth the aching arms and the snide smiles 🙂
Butterflies are amongst Nature’s fascinating beauties..and you have captured their glory with ur pics Indrani 🙂