Daphnis minima

March 8th, 2010

by Krishna Mohan

Daphnis minima

My daughter called me that day to photograph a moth which she thought was Oleander Hawk-moth(Daphnis nerii). When I went close to take photograph I realized that it was not Daphnis nerii. It was looking very similar to Daphnis nerii, but was brownish all over instead of the bright camouflage green Oleander Hawk-moth had. You can see Oleander Hawk-moth here as well as in my Macro Stitching a Moth post. You can also see its caterpillar at Metamorphosis.

I photographed this moth using my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM on Canon EOS 5D mark II with Rayflash fitted to Canon Speedlite 580EXII Flash. All photos were taken hand held at an awkward angle perching on a wooden stool as the moth was sitting close to fluorescent tube light outside my house. Ant which passed by during the shoot gave nice dimension of scale to the photograph.

Daphnis minima

Later going through identification I found that it did not even resemble another likely candidate Daphnis hypothous. Later at Indian Moths Yahoo Group I found out that it is Daphnis minima. This species is endemic to the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. I thank Dr Ian J. Kitching and Roger C. Kendrick For helping me out in identification.

For more details on Daphnis minima check this link.

EXIF info…
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure Mode: Manual exposure
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec.
Exposure Bias: 0.0
Aperture (F Stop): f/10.0
ISO Used: 200
Flash Used: Flash fired, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance: As Shot
Focal Length: 100.0 mm
Metering Mode: Pattern
Date Time: 2010:02:06 19:15:41
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 1.8" N, 74° 59' 44.3" E, 1271 m.a.s.l.
Copyright © Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com

EXIF info…
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure Mode: Manual exposure
Exposure Time: 1/125 sec.
Exposure Bias: 0.0
Aperture (F Stop): f/10.0
ISO Used: 200
Flash Used: Flash fired, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance: As Shot
Focal Length: 100.0 mm
Metering Mode: Pattern
Date Time: 2010:02:06 19:17:41
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 1.8" N, 74° 59' 44.3" E, 1271 m.a.s.l.
Copyright © Krishna Mohan
All rights Reserved. This Image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or trasmitted in any forms or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying & recording without my written permission. If you’d like to make usage request, just ask: drkrishi@drkrishi.com

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4 Responses to “Daphnis minima”

Nayan Says:
March 9th, 2010 at 8:16 AM

Nice profile shot! Like it!

Shanavas Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Yea, ant in the picture is giving good dimension of scale, sometime it’s a very nice idea in macro photography. Even the angle of second photo is superb but along with the first photo, nice shot.
it was on a wall? interested to know how do you manage to take this shot.

drkrishi Says:
March 11th, 2010 at 12:49 PM

Dear Shanavas All photos were taken hand held at an awkward angle perching on a wooden stool as the moth was sitting close to fluorescent tube light outside my house. Unfortunately (or Fortunately) nobody took photos of my awkward position while taking these pictures Second picture I placed camera on the wall parallel to the moth which gave that perspective.