Male Common Mormon Butterfly

Here is a male Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) butterfly which was resting at night on Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia) leaf. I was not able to focus the butterfly at all as it was very dark. I used a 8 LED torch held in my left hand to focus and shoot with Canon EOS 5D mark II using Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro with Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash from right hand. As the butterfly was perched high on the tree this was a great acrobatic task.

The Common Mormon Papilio polytes is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia. This butterfly is known for the mimicry displayed by the numerous forms of its females which mimic inedible Red-bodied Swallowtails, such as the Common Rose and the Crimson Rose. The male are monomorphic dark-coloured swallow-tailed butterfly. The upper fore wing has a series of white spots decreasing in size towards the apex. The upper hind wing has a complete discal band of elongated white spots. It may or may not have marginal red crescents. The males are smaller in size than the females.

The female of the Common Mormon is polymorphic. In South Asia, it has three forms or morphs.
Female form romulus is similar to the male, differing in that it always has strongly marked red crescents. It is the least common of the three forms. It is normally abundant where the Common Rose or Crimson Rose do not occur, such as in Himachal Pradesh around Shimla; although a few specimens of form romulus have also been caught alongside.

Form stichius of the Common Mormon mimics the Common Rose very closely. This is the commonest form wherever the Common Rose flies.

Form romulus mimics the Crimson Rose and is common over its range. It is not such a close mimic as the previous form being duller than its model, the Crimson Rose. It is easy to differentiate the mimics from models by the colour of their body – the models are red-bodied and the mimics are black-bodied.

Common Mormon in Sepia

Here is the same mormon shot converted to Sepia tone in Adobe lightroom.

Common Wolf Snake

Last time when I saw this Common Wolf Snake (Lycodon aulicus) it was juvenile. I saw this snake on Nag Panchami Day a day of revering snakes . I am not really sure it is the same snake or any of of its brethren. But surely it had grown up and developed a nice bands which made this non-poisonous look like poisonous snake Banded Krait. This was a nice example of Batesian Mimicry.

Close up of the head

These bands were not visible in the juvenile which I photographed earlier. Snake was as easy to handle as before without showing any aggressiveness.

Common Wolf Snake

I photographed and released the snake back in my backyard, so that I will have another glimpse few days or weeks later.

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber

I just saw this Black and Yellow Mud Dauber building nest on one of the granite pillars at my courtyard.

As the reflection of twin lights on the round body of the insect was quite harsh, I wanted to try new diffuser on my Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash. I usually have Gary Fong Diffusers puffers on my twin lights. They are invaluable when used with Canon MP-E 65 f/2.8 1-5X Macro lens. But on Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro they produce harsh highlights on glossy bodies of insects. I wanted to try some cheapo Nylon diffusers I procured at local photo dealers which were copy cats of Lumiquest diffusers. The result is here. I need still more experiments to come out with a better solution.

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber Closeup

Apparently these diffusers are better, as you can see the harsh light is controlled considerably. But diffusers ate lot of power and flash was taking quite a bit (1-2secs) to recharge and be ready as compared to my puffer diffuser. As it made the twin light into a big soft box like light it might be producing a better fill.

Small Zebra Jumper spider killing Psyche Butterfly

Death in the domain of the insects can be swift and cruel but retains a magnificence and beauty that is somehow at odds with the brutality of what is happening.
Today rain had subsided a little. I wanted to photograph Psyche (Leptosia nina) butterfly which was flying around those tiny pinkish flowers which I couldn’t find any ID. As I shot 2 photos of the beautiful butterfly a female Small Zebra Jumper spider (Plexippus petersi) jumped on it and killed it. The whole process was so swift that I was too stunned to capture the instance of death.

Psyche seconds before death

Just to show you the beauty before death here is the Psyche seconds before death

Oleander Hawk-Moth

Daphnis nerii or Oleander Hawk-moth is a member of the Sphingidae family, whose members are commonly known as the hummingbird, sphinx or hawk moths. This beautiful and attractive species has a wingspan of 8-12 cm. Its forewings are intricately patterned in gorgeous shades of olive green and marked with small blotches of pink and white, including a pale white apical band on each forewing. The hindwings, on the other hand, are greyish green, with a pale white wavy line. Body is mostly olive green too, with white markings and measures about 5 cm from head to tail.

Oleander Hawk-Moth Side Profile

I found this fine specimen at the yesterday evening. moth was quite friendly and did not get alarmed by my photography. I had a opportunity to try macro panorama on this which I will post in the next blog post.