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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Insects in flight in controlled setup Page 12
Image Taken on 22 Aug 2015
at 12:33 Image of day on 22 Oct 2015
This male Migrant Hawker Dragonfly is one of the smaller Hawker Dragonflies
(though still impressive perching on your hand) and is a delight to watch hunting.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20151022_da1_20150822_1233_252_ft1 migrant hawker dragonfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Aug 2015
at 12:37 Image of day on 22 Oct 2015
The Migrant Hawker Dragonfly is only interested in the flower as
somewhere to perch while hunting over the pond!
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20151022_da1_20150822_1237_272+1331_357_ft1 migrant hawker dragonfly male in flight + water mint (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Jun 2017
at 10:47 Image of day on 09 Aug 2017
A Mottled Beauty Moth in flight.
 in flight + privit flowers (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20170809_da1_20170618_1047_108+1301_309_ft1 mottled beauty moth (alcis repandata repandata) in flight + privit flowers (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 May 2011
at 15:22 Image of day on 30 May 2011
A couple of first sighting of moths here. First the rather drab
'Muslin Ermine' moth (called just the 'Muslin Moth' in some ID
books) has surprisingly white legs - its not a lighting effect.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20110530_da1_20110501_1522_174+1602_292_ft1 muslin ermine moth male with hawthorn twig (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Oct 2009
at 10:36 Image of day on 28 Nov 2009
Probably the last outing for the moth-trap this year only collected
some 50 insects but some were new species for us.
First this quite large Ichneumon. It is a parasitic insect that
lays it's eggs in other species larvae (ugh!). Nature doesn't
think 'cruel' or not - it just finds ways to survive.
This preliminary image we took in an insect box shows the
amazing carapace and head/eye much better than the later
in-flight images.
 ichneumon id in box (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20091128_da1_20091029_1036_295_ft1 ophion luteus (q) ichneumon id in box (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 25 Aug 2019
at 10:11 Image of day on 17 Oct 2019
Out first sighting of a Frosted Orange Moth, but a reluctant flyer.
The photo-kit here takes 3 consecutive frames (all with flash) at about 250mS
intervals. This insect tended to jump onto the soft paintbrushes we use to
tease them into flight, and we catch the moment that this one departed.
Read bottom upwards.
 flying from brush head @4fps (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20191017_da1_20190825_1011_287-289_ft1 frosted orange moth (gortyna flavago) flying from brush head @4fps (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Aug 2010
at 11:18 Image of day on 23 Sep 2010
We put the moth trap out Sunday-Monday night and caught something like 1000 insects!
Many wouldn't oblige in our flight kit, but some did.
This lovely little 'Orange swift moth' obliged with just this one image.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20100923_da1_20100809_1118_101+1231_228_ft1 orange swift moth in flight with hawthorn twig (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2021
at 11:31 Image of day on 25 Jun 2021
Another flyby by this male Orange-tip butterfly shows you the underside
of the insect including the intricate green lacework that provides
disguise (on both sexes) when the wings are closed.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210625_da1_20210601_1131_060+1232_085_ft1 orange tip butterfly male in flight with garlic mustard flowers (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Apr 2019
at 13:03 Image of day on 18 May 2019
We caught another male Orange-tip Butterfly on this day, so took the opportunity
to show you female (left) and male Orange-tip Butterflies, so you can compare.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190518_da1_20190422_1303_088+1319_121_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female & male in flight (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 18 May 2014
at 14:18 Image of day on 16 Jul 2014
Top right is the Male Orange-tip butterfly, together with an
image of the female and a flowering Garlic Mustard - one of their
favourite plants for egg laying which we encourage down our
trackway edge. We would love to have caught this setup 'for real'
but it's hard enough getting a decent image of one insect in
flight at a time, so this is a montage of 3 images to illustrate
what we see in the wild.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20140716_da1_20140518_1418_265+1540_338+1529+332_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female & male in flight with garlic mustard (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 23 May 2012
at 12:45 Image of day on 21 Jun 2012
The only freshly emerged butterflies at the moment are orange tips.
They don't seem to feed to on buttercups but fly over them on the way
to their regular food plants.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20120621_da1_20120523_1245_032+1311_054_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female in flight with buttercup (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Apr 2019
at 12:58 Image of day on 18 May 2019
This is a FEMALE Orange-tip Butterfly - which doesn't have even a trace of the orange
wing tips, but has a similar wonderful lattice pattern on the lower surface of the wing.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20190518_da1_20190422_1258_058+1507_183_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female in flight with garlic mustard (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2011
at 13:28 Image of day on 02 May 2011
Caught in a sheltered corner on a sunny but cold day this is
the first time we have photographed a female Orange-tip butterfly
flight before. What does she lack - the orange tip! You are seeing her
slightly from the rear with her head lower left.
The pretty flower is called 'Lady's Smock (Cuckoo Flower)' - it seeds freely and
our site is every increasingly awash with it!
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20110502_da1_20110409_1328_119+1511_378_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female in flight with ladys smock (cuckoo flower) (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2011
at 13:34 Image of day on 02 May 2011
Here she is standing on more of the same flower.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20110502_da1_20110409_1334_158_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female on ladys smock (cuckoo flower) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 18 May 2014
at 14:16 Image of day on 16 Jul 2014
This is a female Orange-tip Butterfly, who lacks the orange tip!
This one has been bird pecked, but you can enjoy the intricate
pattern on the rear wing underside (only) and the patch of the
same pattern on underside edge of the forewings so that the
disguise with wings vertical is complete.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20140716_da1_20140518_1416_256+1421_273_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female with radish flower (montage 1)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Apr 2009
at 13:45 Image of day on 16 May 2009
Only the orange tip butterfly male (shown here) sports the orange tip
that gives the species it's name. The female does share the
delicate green tracery with her mate.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20090516_dc1_20090423_1345_185+1357_199 ft1 orange-tip butterfly male flying over red campion (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2021
at 11:29 Image of day on 25 Jun 2021
A male Orange-tip butterfly flies by giving us a good view of the
top of the wings. Only the males show the orange tips.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210625_da1_20210601_1129_045_ft1 orange-tip butterfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2017
at 13:47 Image of day on 27 May 2017
On an unusually warm Spring day we only managed to catch 3 male orange-tip Butterflies,
just one of which was obliging enough to fly through our IR trigger beam while still
in the photo-frame.
In this image the Orange-tip Butterfly is nearly upside down showing us the
marvellous green tracery that appears on only the underside of the rear wings.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20170527_da1_20170409_1347_077+1427_130_ft1 orange-tip butterfly male in flight underside green tracery with cuckoo flower (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 21 Apr 2019
at 12:51 Image of day on 18 May 2019
Here is the male Orange-tip Butterfly in flight, showing the upper surface of
the far wing, and wonderful lattice pattern on the lower surface of the near wing.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20190518_da1_20190421_1251_109+1105_073_ft1 orange-tip butterfly male in flight with ladys smock (cuckoo flower) (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 09 Apr 2011
at 14:56 Image of day on 02 May 2011
And this a male in all his glory, seeing the bottom of the wings
(what you see when the wings are folded vertical). The green and
white tracery on both sexes is really beautiful, but somehow set
off even better by the orange coloured tip.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20110502_da1_20110409_1456_292+1333_151_ft1 orange-tip butterfly male in flight with ladys smock (cuckoo flower) (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
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