Monkey Puzzle

Monkey Puzzle I am referring to, is neither the political game which our politicians play, nor any other game I am trying to promote. That afternoon I was teaching my 10 year old daughter Neethi few basics of photography when she spotted a small butterfly with several tail filaments sitting on a crape jasmine bush. That butterfly is called Monkey Puzzle (Rathinda amor). My daughter wanted to try her hand on macro photography. I removed the flash and diffuser and just gave her my Canon EOS 1D Mark IV fitted with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens to try. Weight of this rig is too much to her tiny hands and she struggled to hold the weight. Nevertheless she managed to capture the butterfly quite successfully. Here is the photo she captured.

Monkey Puzzle

After she tried her hand, I wanted to take the similar shot. The butterfly was very cooperative. Here is my humble effort. As both of us were not using flash we had to push the ISO to 3200 to get aperture f/13 and speed of 1/200th second. Unfortunately the plant on which this butterfly was sitting was so awkward, that it allowed me only two good positions to take photos.

Monkey Puzzle

Later I connected my Canon Speedlite 580EX II with ExpoImaging Ray Flash Adapter. This gave me good light with which I could reduce the ISO to 100. The extra light from the flash allows you to extract a greater clarity from the picture by using lower ISO. The Monkey Puzzle, Rathinda amor is a small lycaenid or blue butterfly found in Western Ghats, South Indian plains, Orissa and Ganjam districts to Calcutta. Assam. Sri Lanka.

Monkey Puzzle

Its sexes alike. Wingspan – 26 to 28 mm. Upper side of this butterfly is dark brown. It has a white-spot end cell. It has narrow white spots on 2 and 3 which form a short band on the fore wing. On the UPH it has two black tornal spots and narrow dark reddish spot above them. The underside is white to dark yellowish brown. Fore wing has irregular dark basal markings with a curved white discal line. The apical two-fifths are a rich dark brown color. The hind wing has a silvery margin with many irregular black lines and spots within. It has three tails, being 2 mm, 6 mm and 2.5 mm in length.

Monkey Puzzle

This butterfly is found in jungle areas of moderate to heavy rainfall – both, in heavy forest and scrub. The butterfly occurs below 900 meters or so. It keeps to undergrowth and can be seen along forest paths and in clearings. The butterfly has a weak flight, it stays low and does not fly for long without alighting. Its method of alighting is interesting – as soon as it lands, it turns around and waggles its tail filaments, it also sidesteps for a while – all this is apparently to confuse a predator as to which side is the head. This is a likely reason that the first naturalists may have named the species the Monkey Puzzle. The butterfly has a number of food plants from families Rubiaceae, Dipterocarpeae, Euphorbiaceae, Loranthaceae, Sapindaceae and Myrtaceae. In my garden I found it was feeding on Ixora.

Asian Koel Female with Thevetia peruviana seed in the mouth

In my earlier blog I had written about Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus). I had another close encounter with this common bird in our kitchen garden. As I was planing to go to my clinic on that day I saw a pair of Juvenile Asian Koels sitting on the Yellow Oleander plant. I quickly grabbed my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens which was fitted on Canon EOS 7D and went out to photograph these pair. My choice of lens for that situation turned a wrong one. I was too close to the bird. It was as though doing a macro shoot of the bird. Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L is not a good macro lens. The closest it can focus is around 2.5 meters giving a 0.13x magnification. If I was on 70-200mm then it would have been better.

Asian Koel Male

9:40 AM light was quite harsh which you can notice by the overexposed highlight on the shoulder of the bird. If i had under exposed then the bird would have rendered dark. This is why we prefer the golden light of the early morning or late evening which gives a nicer mellow light with lower contrast. Cloudy days are boon to photographers as the sky becomes a large lightbox. Rule of thumb is if shadows are not very dark then the light is nice for good photography.

Asian Koel Female Ruffled

They were also squabbling among themselves for the fruit and just looked playful. Male who was on the ground noticed my presence first and flew away, but the female did not notice me and gave quite a few poses before realizing that she is being photographed and flying off.

Asian Koel Female Threatening the Male

Both the birds were busy eating the fruit of yellow oleander (Thevetia peruviana) which are toxic to mammals. Thevetia peruviana is a plant native to central and southern Mexico and Central America. It is a close relative of Nerium oleander, giving it one common name as Yellow Oleander, and is also called lucky nut, Captain Cook Nut in the West Indies.

Asian Koel Female

Thevetia peruviana is an evergreen tropical shrub or small tree. Its leaves are willow-like, linear-lanceolate, and glossy green in colour. They are covered in waxy coating to reduce water loss (typical of oleanders). Its stem is green turning silver/gray as it ages.

Asian Koel Female

Flowers bloom from summer to fall. The long funnel-shaped sometimes-fragrant yellow (less commonly apricot) flowers are in few-flowered terminal clusters. Its fruit is deep red—black in color encasing a large seed that bears some resemblance to a ‘Chinese lucky nut.’ Thevetia peruviana contains a milky sap containing a compound called thevetin that is used as a heart stimulant but in its natural form is extremely poisonous, as are all parts of the plants, especially the seeds.

Asian Koel Female

Thevetia peruviana is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and planted as large flowering shrub or small ornamental tree standards in gardens and parks in temperate climates.
Thevetia peruviana inhibited spermatogenesis in rats, indicating the possibility of developing a herbal male contraceptive.

Asian Koel Female

Thevetia peruviana plants are toxic to most vertebrates as they contain cardiac glycosides. Many cases of intentional and accidental poisoning of humans are known. Only a few bird species are however known to feed on them without any ill effects. These include the Asian Koel, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-browed Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Brahminy Myna, Common Myna and Common Grey Hornbill.

Lacewing Eggs on the under surface of Oleander Leaf

I found these strange eggs on the under surface of Oleander (Nerium oleander) leaf next to my house. Each egg was attached to the top of a hair-like filament. I had not seen such an egg laying on filamentous structure and on searching for info I found that it was from Lacewing (Chrysopidae). I used Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM on Canon EOS 5D mark II illuminated using Rayflash on Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash.

In another few days the eggs will hatch and a tiny predatory larva emerges ready to eat the pests in my garden. Lacewing larvae are also known as aphid lions. Oval shaped eggs are laid singly at the end of long silken stalks and are pale green, turning pale gray in several days. The larvae, which are very active, are gray or brownish and alligator-like with well-developed legs and large pincers with which they suck the body fluids from prey. Larvae grow from <1 mm to 6-8 mm.

Lacewing larvae voraciously attack their prey by seizing them with large, sucking jaws and inject a paralyzing venom. The hollow jaws then draw out the body fluids of the pest. Of all available commercial predators, lacewings are the most voracious and has the greatest versatility for pests of field crops, orchards, and greenhouses. They are one of the best biological pesticides for your garden.

Reason for that filamentous structure may be to prevent emerging larva from cannibalizing each other. Each lacewing larva will devour 200 or more pests or pest eggs a week during their two to three week developmental period. After this stage, the larvae pupate by spinning a cocoon with silken thread. Approximately five days later adult lacewings emerge to mate and repeat the life cycle. Depending on climatic conditions, the adult will live about four to six weeks.

Lacewing Eggs

Each adult female may deposit more than 200 eggs. For best results, habitats should be provided that encourage the adults to remain and reproduce in the release area. Nectar, pollen, and honeydew stimulate their reproductive process. If these food sources are not available, adults may disperse.

Lacewing larvae feed on many different pest insects. In general, they attack the eggs and the immature stages of most soft-bodied pests such as: aphids, thrips, spider mites, sweet potato & greenhouse whitefly, mealybugs, leafhoppers, and the eggs and caterpillars of most moths.

Adult green lacewings are pale green, about 12-20 mm long, with long antennae and bright, golden eyes. They have large, transparent, pale green wings and a delicate body. Adults are active fliers, particularly during the evening and night and have a characteristic, fluttering flight.