pretty beatiful --

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: