Saturday, February 12, 2011

Two native butterflies in a mating dance, Heraclides androgeus epidaurus



These Heraclides androgeus epidaurus were brought to my garden by the massive flowering of an ice cream bean tree. Normally it is very difficult to photograph this courtship behaviour since it normally occurs high in the canopy but in this case the incredible abundance of food and the large number of other butterflies in the area seem to have made these ones throw caution to the winds. Getting a photo of these fast flying butterflies showing their courtship behavior was an stunning stroke of luck. The male is the yellow one.

These large butteflies are not particularly rare but since they normally live on forested areas few Puerto Ricans ever get to see them this close.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://science.discovery.com/videos/mutant-planet-comet-orchid.html

spero que con ese link puedas ver esa orquidea

Ricardo said...

Gracias por el vídeo. Hay unas pocas personas que tienen esta planta en Puerto Rico pero no es frecuente verla florecida. A lo mejor me motivo y me compro una!!

Kiki Cardona said...

I am so delighted to see the Heraclides androgeus epidaurus species. Never saw them before therefore I thank you for the valuable information. My "thumbs up" for your great informative blog. Thanks Ricardo!

Ricardo said...

Thanks for your kind comment, I an delighted when people enjoy my posts.