Merlin (1094) [2009-10-29 7:31]

Hi, Roberto
your butterfly is a male Lycaena tityrus. An excellent head-on shot, with all the key areas within the DOF - quite an achievement at this distance!
Regards, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-10-16 15:52]

Carlos: Assuming that this is a wild Spanish species, this is a colour variant of the Green or Western Whip Snake Hierophis viridiflavus. I would have prefered the composition and crop to be more concentrated on the head, but the important areas are sharp.
Regards, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-10-15 7:39]

Hi, Siggi
This is a nice image of a male Comet Moth or Madagascan Moon Moth Argema mittrei. This is a much larger and more spectaccular species than A. luna. The only problem I have with the image is that there is too much depth of field, showing the cluttered man-made background.
Regards, Nigel

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-30 4:37]

Hi, Nikos
A nice, sharp, backlit image of a female .. Aricia agestis. The combination of the lack of the inner "cell" spot on the underside of the forewing and the distribution of the white-circled black spots of the hindwing are diagnostic of this species or the very similar A. artaxerxes.
Regards, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-21 4:13] [2] - [workshop] [compare] [+]

Horia:
ID - I agree with the other Horia! 100% P. argus. Apart from the blue "eyes" in the hindwing margin, the key feature separating it from idas is the spine marked in my "workshop" image. Nice, tight crop showing all the key details. Very nice!
Regards, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-18 4:52]

Hi, Maurizio.
Aren't the undersides of this butterfly's antennae orange? Key ID point that would suggest...? Another nice demonstration of the use of the tripod mounted 300mm lens for butterfly photography. I must try it more often!
Regards, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-17 13:34] [+]

Hello again, Dietrich.

Sometimes field guides can be deceptive, as there is quite a lot of variation by geography, season and age. This is almost certainly alcetas by use of Occam's Butterfly Field Guide (apologies - field biologist humour ;) and experience. Fortunately, we have a good reference source here on TN as long as we strive to keep identifications as accurate as possible. I would point you to: -

Upperside view from Sergio.

Underside view from Harm.

Harm in particular is outstandingly accurate in his identifications.

Photographically, I cannot criticise this - nice lighting, good depth of field and nice composition - it's all good!

Best wishes, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-16 13:10]

Hi, Nikos
This is a very fine photograph, with excellent lighting and control of depth of field. However, it is certainly Pieris brassicae, not rapae. The shape of the wingtip marking of the front wings is diagnostic.
Best wishes, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-16 9:50] [+]

Hi, Dietrich
I hate to complicate matters, but there are a few points that suggest that this is not A. artaxerxes, primarily the strong black and white "checkering" of the wing margins and the white markings outside the orange spots on the hindwings, neither of which are present in Aricia. I think I can also see a few blue scales on the upperside of the hind wing. I cannot see the underside properly, but from the above and the wing shape, I would suggest a female Polyommatus/Lysandra coridon? If you had a clearer view of the underside it would be conclusive. A very attractive image, nicely complemented by the angled flower spike and soft lighting.
Best wishes, Nigel.

Merlin (1094) [2009-09-16 6:29]

Hi, Horia
Perfect portrait of the underside of the male icarus. Well exposed, nice composition and a very complementary background. Nice work.
Regards, Nigel.