Female Orange Tip

[Geoff F]

Following on from my male Orange Tip Butterfly story

Orange Tip Butterfly and Murphy's Law

I went back today and found a female. The first one I have ever managed to photograph.



And once again, I made a bit of a hash of it. Took a first quick shot from around 3 feet, and over exposed it a bit! Then before I could slide closer and have another think about how much exposure compensation to use. She was off; and never even waved goodbye!

So this is the best I can do after a bit of editing.

The same story with a couple of flies which are going to be tricky to identify. Managed the first long distance shot but before I could get the required angle they were gone. In fact, all subjects seemed a trifle flighty today.



A Cheilosia of some type. Hairy eyes but yellowish tinted wings and partially yellow legs?

I think I have an identification for this Eupeodes but if I am correct (Eupeodes latifasciatus) it is a little early; and I never found one of them last year. But bug hunting is like that.



So it is a 'Must try harder' score for me!

[bnnrcn]

Hi Geoff,nice images #1 has very nice colours and patterns and I like the hair around the edges of the wings.A very nice subject for a photo.I hope you will come across another one soon to shoot more and to share with us.#3 is nice too with details in the wings and nice colours,I also like the BG.

[John 2]

Three more nice shots Geoff but the first is special. You're well ahead of us up here. The only very obvious presence here is that there seem to be a surfeit of Ladybirds just at the moment. Greenfly beware.

[deetheturk]

Nice set of images Geoff,it seems you did very well in the circumstances,but as you say thats bug hunting for us

David

[FootLoose]

Wow, Geoff! That first one blows me away. I have never such a butterfly before.

[IzzieK]

#1 so so beautiful, Geoff...I was just bothered that the colour of its back is the same as the greens of where it landed, but then you got what you get in such a short period of time...

2 is also nice with sepia treatment, is it? #3 is very nice with its veins on the wings...all together you did a very good job with these three.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

#2 is real natural colours, Isabel. An all dark bee on pale dead grass with Spring sunshine. That pale old grass in the background always tends to cause me problems with exposures.

[yogirajj]

Wow, I've never seen a butterfly like that before! It's beautiful!

[chauncey]

Wow, I've never seen a butterfly like that before! It's beautiful!

Aah...c'mon Yogi, they gotta have arboretums in NYC.

[yogirajj]

Aah...c'mon Yogi, they gotta have arboretums in NYC.

This butterfly is pretty exotic. I don't even remember seeing anything like this in the Bronx Zoo. The colors of our butterflies are not that vibrant; butteries in NYC are more like earth-tone colors. I'm not saying ours isn't nice, they're just different kind of butterflies.

[Geoff F]

When these butterflies are flying in the wild, they just appear like any other plain white butterfly. Many species have attractively marked undersides which helps them to merge into the background when on the ground or in foliage.

And it considerably helps in identification. In fact some species are virtually impossible to reliably identify from just a top view.