by Krishna Mohan
Female Plain Tiger
I had written long back on Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) butterfly. At that time I was using Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM with 36mm of extension tube to photograph this Plain Tiger butterfly. Soon after the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly photograph session which I published last week, I spotted a female plain tiger butterfly nearby. I used the same setup as I used in the dragonfly photography. My rig consisted of 1D Mark IV camera with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L + 1.4x tele-converter stabilized on a monopod. Beautiful evening sun gave me plenty of golden light to experiment around this butterfly. It was not at all shy in posing for me as was evident in the photos which is one of the great advantages of using a long telephoto lens for closeup shoots.
Female Plain Tiger Under Side View
As I photographed I noticed that the butterfly had a wound on the thorax at the base of the right hind-wing. The Plain Tiger is protected from attacks due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stages. The larvae pf this butterfly feed on host plants like milkweeds (like Asclepias, Calotropis) which are have toxic alkaloids. The butterfly therefore flies slowly and leisurely, generally close to the ground and in a straight line. This gives a would-be predator ample time to recognize and avoid attacking it. Inexperienced predators will try attacking it, but will learn soon enough to avoid this butterfly as the alkaloids in its body cause vomiting. The butterfly I was photographing also must have escaped such an attack on it.
Female Plain Tiger Side View
It was an old wound, the lymph had accumulated and clotted around the right side of the thorax. Even though injured the butterfly was flying normally and was resting like any other of its kind. Tenacity of this butterfly was amazing. The butterfly also has a tough, leathery skin to survive such occasional attacks. When attacked it fakes death and oozes nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. This encourages the predator to release the butterfly quickly. The Plain Tiger thus has the ability to recover “miraculously” from predator attacks that would kill most other butterflies.
Female Plain Tiger Upper Side
Even though a macro lens and a flash setup is ideal to get extremely closeup photos of these butterflies, my tele-macro setup works nice. Drawback of this setup is that it needs a good light and is heavy and cumbersome. So it is not very portable. With that setup I can take quite a good amount of closeup shots with a very creamy bokeh effect. I can also using the same setup photograph birds and other distant object which is a real bonus as the same rig works as dual purpose setup.
Female Plain Tiger Closeup
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens:
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/160 sec.
Exposure Bias:
-0.3
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire.
White Balance:
Custom
Focal Length:
420.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2011:05:22 16:28:23
GPS Location in Google Map:
12° 55' 20" N, 74° 51' 55.2" E, 697 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-1D Mark IV
Lens:
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/320 sec.
Exposure Bias:
-0.3
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire.
White Balance:
Custom
Focal Length:
420.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2011:05:22 16:29:12
GPS Location in Google Map:
12° 55' 20" N, 74° 51' 55.2" E, 697 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-1D Mark IV
Lens:
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/80 sec.
Exposure Bias:
-0.7
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
200
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire.
White Balance:
Custom
Focal Length:
420.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2011:05:22 16:32:01
GPS Location in Google Map:
12° 55' 20" N, 74° 51' 55.2" E, 697 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-1D Mark IV
Lens:
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/320 sec.
Exposure Bias:
-0.7
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
400
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire.
White Balance:
Custom
Focal Length:
420.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2011:05:22 16:35:05
GPS Location in Google Map:
12° 55' 20" N, 74° 51' 55.2" E, 697 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-1D Mark IV
Lens:
EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Exposure Mode:
Auto exposure
Exposure Time:
1/250 sec.
Exposure Bias:
-0.7
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
250
Flash Used:
Flash did not fire.
White Balance:
Custom
Focal Length:
420.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2011:05:22 16:35:17
GPS Location in Google Map:
12° 55' 20" N, 74° 51' 55.2" E, 697 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
Tags: African Monarch, Angiosperms, Arthropoda, Asia, Bondel, Butterfly, Canon EF 1.4x III Extender, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Common Foxglove, Crotalaria, Crotalaria mucronata, Crotalaria pallida, Crotalaria striata, Crotalarieae, Dakshina Kannada, Danainae, Danaus, Danaus chrysippus, Digitalis, Digitalis purpurea, Fabaceae, Fabales, Faboideae, Foxglove, Hooked Mimosa, India, Insecta, Karnataka, Lady's Glove, Lamiales, Lepidoptera, Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida, Mangalore, Mimosa, Mimosa armata, Mimosa hamata, Mimoseae, Mimosoideae, Mundi, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Plain Tiger, Plantaginaceae, Purple Foxglove, Sagari mullu, salts rattlebox, smooth crotalaria, Smooth Rattlepod, streaked rattlepod, striped crotalaria, Touch-me-not family
Posted in Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Comments (5)
by Krishna Mohan
Thorn Mimic Treehopper
This curious insect belongs to the group of trehoppers belonging to family Membracidae. It is also called thorn Mimic treehopper as it looks like a thorn. most treehoppers are considered as pest, but some like Leptocentrus taurus was found feeding on the noxious weed Parthenium hysterophorus in Karnataka, India, thus acting as potential biological control agents. I found this Leptocentrus species on a Smooth rattlepod (Crotalaria pallida)plant. Photographed using Canon EOS 5D mark II with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro using Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash.
EXIF info…
Camera:
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:
EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Exposure Mode:
Manual exposure
Exposure Time:
1/200 sec.
Exposure Bias:
0.0
Aperture (F Stop):
f/10.0
ISO Used:
100
Flash Used:
Flash fired, compulsory flash mode.
White Balance:
As Shot
Focal Length:
100.0 mm
Metering Mode:
Pattern
Date Time:
2009:06:13 17:56:57
GPS Location in Google Map:
13° 4' 2.2" N, 74° 59' 44.6" E, 634 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
Tags: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro, Canon EOS 5D mark II, Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash, Crotalaria pallida, Horned treehopper Leptocentrus sp (Membracidae), Insect, Moodabidri, salts rattlebox, smooth crotalaria, Smooth Rattlepod, streaked rattlepod, striped crotalaria, Thorn Mimic Treehopper
Posted in Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Comments (3)
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