Big, pretty, rare, and a pain
These butterflies are very large and pretty and rare, but they are a pain to photograph.
They are called purple emperor (Apatura iris), grote weerschijnvlinder in Dutch.
They live high up in oak trees, and they prefer the tallest oak trees they can find. Very rarely, they come down to collect minerals on the ground, and there they are very skittish and hard to approach.
They also refuse to land on pretty surfaces; they look for minerals on roads and paths, and when they do, they seem to prefer sitting at such an angle that their blue shine doesn't show. All in all, I have cursed them many a time. Out loud.
Here are the only two photos I have been able to make of them ever:
Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO100, f8, 1/125s
Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/80s
If you have photos of this species that were easy to make, I don't want to know about it until I have had some more coffee.
Nice. Usually if subjects cause a lot of aggravation like that, I just give up.
Check this link, just seen in my feed, might not make you happy: https://steemit.com/pretty/@drt/pretty-beatiful
Good find! My 2 cents for the effort :)
Thanks for the heads-up. He is now a flagged plagiarist.
Thought so, but I'm new to Steem so not sure how this works. For future reference, how did you flag him?
(And he didn't really do a good job on the steal, pretty crude post!)
By clicking the little flag symbol in the top right-hand corner. It's a downvote, basically, that reduced payment and reputation.
Must have worked, post is gone now!
Great shots and story - hopefully my laughter on reading your last line will ease your pain!
That's two more photos than I have taken of this butterfly. Lucky you to have even seen it!
Nice photo. From me upvote.
They are still very pretty! And I bet they know it and play games with you on purpose :)
No worries... I have never seen them :D
Pretty! A day species, I'd expect?
Yes.
Ha ha funny guy. You should be very proud of these two photos. Then again you can change your swamp boots for climbing shoes to get to the top of the oak trees.
Very pretty flutter by,got my upvote
Beautiful purple emperor...