Comparison between Iphiclides podalirius VS Iphiclides p. feisthamelii What a pleasure to go after dragonflies and find this gorgeous specimen on my doorstep in the lavander! Un Flambé magnifique, un des plus beaux papillons d’Europe, dans la lavande du jardin. Ces plants isolés m’ont offert un bokeh assez uni mais je n’ai pu me concentrer […]
Tag: Lepidoptera
Butterfly wings inspire cosmetics and bomb detectors
A tropical butterfly might not be the first place to look when seeking inspiration for the latest bomb sniffing technology for the US military, but the brightly coloured iridescent wings of a blue morpho provides one example of a promising branch of science – bio-inspiration. Other varied applications inspired by the South American butterfly’s shimmering […]
Pangbourne sprays to kill oak processionary caterpillar ‘dangerous’
Wildlife in a Berkshire woodland was endangered by a “sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut” approach to killing a toxic caterpillar, experts have said. Birds, bats and rare insects were affected by Forestry Commission aerial sprays to kill a moth larvae, Butterfly Conservation and Buglife claimed. It was unclear if oak processionary caterpillar larvae were even present in the Pangbourne […]
The Southern Festoon butterfly
Zerynthia polyxena – Papillonidae – Parnassinae – A rare butterfly in France except locally in the southeastern areas. It is on a red list. It pupates for winter and the adults emerge from the end of march to end of may. Their life span does not exceed 3 weeks during which the females lay their […]
The Mountain Apollo
Parnassius apollo pyrenaicus – Papilionidae – Parnassius The Apollo’s mating plug or Sphragis is visible on the photo below: It is particular to the females of this lepidoptera family.It is deposited by a male into the female genital tract and later hardens into a plug assuring the male that only his sperm cells will fertilize […]
An Aster Cocktail
Closing her eyes, sipping an aster cocktail, a Cabbage White mocks the heat in the garden of Ra. • Cabbage White butterfly | Pieris rapae