The Butterfly and The Azalea.

in #butterflyday5 years ago

The Butterfly and The Azalea.

This is my entry for Thursday is Butterfly Day Giveaway- Week 12 contest organized by @whatisnew

The first image is the one I am submitting......the rest are to add more interest to this post.

I spent a few hours the other day at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens and one of the highlights for me was discovering this lovely butterfly resting on a pink azalea flower.

dx7ihyr10e.jpg

This butterfly is called Common Crow (Euploea Core) and they are found in many Brisbane gardens. They are also referred to as the Common Indian Crow in India and they belong to the Crow and Tiger subfamily Danainae. The Common Crow feed on orleander flowers and figs.

The caterpillars are boldly striped and have four pairs of tentacles. The pupa are a spectacular, metallic silver colour and hang suspended from leaves. Their black wings have rows of white spots on their margins and their wingspan in about 8 - 9 cms.

2vk9765hjn.jpg

The chrysalis is unmistakably shiny with its metallic silver or gold colouring. The chrysalis suspends head down. Being so numerous, the pupa are a striking sight on their host plant.

The Common Crow has natural protection against predators due to chemicals extracted from the latex of the food plants consumed in their caterpillar stage. This allows them to fly around undeterred in a leisurely manner with its wings held slightly above the horizontal. This self confident behaviour is an evidence of its effective inedibility to predators. For the uninitiated, they will attempt to attack the butterfly but it soon learns to avoid these butterfly as the alkaloids in its body cause predators to vomit.

ikwmz46k95.jpg

The butterfly has tough, leathery wings and when it is attacked, it pretends to die and in the process, expels a liquid which causes any predators to release them. And before you know it, the common crow butterfly recovers ‘miraculously’ after the predator thinks it has been killed.

In humid weather large numbers of these butterflies gather around the mud-puddles on wet sand. They butterfly gravitate to damaged parts of plants such as Crotalaria, Heliotropium to forage for chemicals precursors to produce pheromones.

iy1nnq4i9r.jpg

Along with other Danaids such as the Tigers, the Common Crow is one of the most common migrating butterfly species. Males and females in equal proportions have been seen to migrate.

This butterfly (below) was captured somewhere else. I added a pretty bokeh filter to it which, for me completed the picture.

gvcivrqrab.jpg

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING. HAVE A GREAT DAY.

wt9p7tuiz2.gif*

Posted using eSteem Surfer

09nl4xkzj2.png*

Sort:  

What a beautiful butterfly. The information you provided was very interesting and I especially liked learning that this butterfly has tough leathery wings. Beautiful photos and the addition to the last one is stunning. Thanks for using #butterflyday tag @trudeehunter! : )

I apologized for the late reply. I had a family emergency to tend to.

Don't apologize, I am a little late this week at getting back to people myself. Struggling to shake off this terrible flu. Thank you for your comments.

Aw, I am sorry to hear that you have the flu. It can take weeks to recover so try to get lots of rest. Hope you feel better real soon. Maybe this might help a tiny bit...you won 1-SBI for Butterfly Day- Week 12. Congratulations! : )

Aww......thank you so much @whatisnew for this unexpected surprise and for your kind thoughts. I'm feeling much better now and I'm very glad you liked my butterfly image.

My pleasure @trudeehunter and I am very happy to hear that you are feeling better. I hope you have a nice weekend! : )

You're wonderful. Thanks you so much for your kind words and I hope you are enjoying your weekend too. 💖

I am happy to hear that you learned a little about this butterfly @whatisnew. Even though they are very common, they are still beautiful. Thanks so much for hosting this great contest.🦋

I really do enjoy looking at the many different photos of butterflies from all over the world. They are beautiful and they fascinate me. Thank you for your kind words about my contest. I am having fun with it. : )

That's good to hear @whatisnew I share your fascination with butterflies and get very excited whenever I get close enough to photograph them. 🦋

pixresteemer_incognito_angel_mini.png
Congratz, your post has been resteemed and, who knows, will maybe appear in the next edition of the #dailyspotlights (Click on my face if you want to know more about me...)
Check the rules of the Daily Spotlights if you want to nominate someone!
Pixresteemer is also listed as promoter on The Steemians Directory

Thanks very much @pixresteemer 🌼 🌻 🌼

What a joy to see your post today. I like butterflies for their fragility and for their very different beauty from one to another.
I cannot take pictures of them, they see me and don't let me approach them.

Thank you for your visit. Glad you liked it. I have a soft spot for butterflies also.

With all my pleasure!

They all are lovely ❤
And I like your edition too, the last one with bokeh is stunning

Posted using Partiko Android

Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated.

Terrific images and the last edited one is absolutely awesome!

Thanks Neli for your comments. Most people seem to like the last one.

How beautiful they all are your so lucky to have been able to capture all these beautiful butterflies what is your secret that they just didn't fly away...lol :)

Gorgeous photos of the butterfly and flower, Trudee. Really love the bokeh on last photo.

Thank you Jo. It seems to be a favorite with most. Thanks for your comments.Much appreciated.

Nice info about crow butterfly although it seems like more of a tiger. Nice effects you do with your photos. It suits the photos.

Thanks very much for your kind visit and lovely comments Much appreciated. 💐

Those sound fascinating. I'd like to see those shiny chrysalis. Nice photos of them, too. I've never heard of a butterfly playing possum before.

Wow! You have a botanical garden in Brisbane! How nice! Very interesting information on the butterfly!
So, I have to tell my cat to be careful with butterflies!

Posted using Partiko iOS

Yes @kaminchan we have are blessed with the gardens in Brisbane. I really enjoy taking my camera and making a day of it when I can. There is always something different happening. Thanks for stopping by.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.15
TRX 0.12
JST 0.025
BTC 56098.81
ETH 2411.66
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.36