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Junonia orithya.


Junonia orithya.
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter Stoeckl (peter_stoeckl) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1629 W: 285 N: 3643] (10213)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-10-29
Categories: Insects
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-H5
Exposure: f/4, 1/1000 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Butterflies of India 3 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-11-30 13:53
Viewed: 1338
Points: 38
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Junonia orithya.
Blue Pansy at High Noon.

Junonia orithya (Linnaeus, 1764)
Synonym: Precis orithya
Blue Pansy,
male.

Genus: Junonia
Subfamily: Nymphalinae
Family: Nymphalidae
Order: Lepidoptera

Wingspan: 70 mm


High noon on a hot day in downtown Jaipur. Where to go? The gardens of the Jaipur Museum of Astronomy were a good place to visit for those who love to stay in free air under a blue sky. While enjoying the sight of beautiful women in colourful saris among the numerous visitors – a most pleasant view I am not allowed to share with you here on TN – a few butterflies also caught my attention, one of them restlessly patrolling a small territory within the gardens.

That butterfly came to sit on the ground repeatedly for a few moments, clapping its brilliantly iridescent blue wings. When closing its wings it almost disappeared in perfect camouflage against the ground. Indians know that butterfly well - the "Blue Pansy".

“The Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya) is a medium sized Nymphalid butterfly of South Asia which occurs in open areas, often sitting on bare ground. This species has a stiff flap and glide style of flight and maintains a territory driving away other butterflies that may enter it.” Wikipedia.

Distribution: Madagaskar, dry areas of tropical Africa, Arabia, India, Ceylon, Burma, New Guinea, Northern Australia.

Larva on Justicia procumbens, J. micrantha, Lepidagathis prostrata, Ipomoea sp., etc.

By clapping its wings while sitting on the ground in bright sunshine, the butterfly seems to be busily sending a strong signal of presence – maybe inviting females to visit, or to keep male competitors from invading his territory.

To get an idea of the behaviour of repeated "disappearance" and sudden appearance, please klick here.


The camera:

SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, 16mm, F/4, 1/1000sec., ISO-125; no tripod, no flash; 29.10.2006, 12:07 local time.


Postwork:

Photoshop Elements, slightly cropped, downsized to the web, selectively sharpened, noise removal on BG, brightness, contrast and saturation adjusted.


References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junonia_orithya

http://ftp.funet.fi/index/Tree_of_life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/nymphalinae/junonia/index.html

Thank you for looking.
Have a very good day.
rufous03, jmp, Argus, wallhalla15, Alex99, jchemas, dew77, Pentaxfriend, blakitan, Janice, vanderschelden, wkshelton, cataclysta, phlr has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To ramthakur: "gem" from Indiapeter_stoeckl 1 12-02 09:33
To batu: scharfes indisch-tropisches Lichtpeter_stoeckl 1 11-30 17:54
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3748 W: 186 N: 11161] (34473)
  • [2006-11-30 14:40]

Hello Peter,
It's nice to see this Blue Pansy again after 14 years when I last saw it on Penang.
The entire butterfly fills the picture clearly and well-placed.
Thank you and best wishes, Ivan

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1740 W: 95 N: 2273] (8411)
  • [2006-11-30 14:44]

Hi Peter,
Interesting post where butterfly can be seen with open/closed wings, so well camouflaged and so visible. Excellent details and colors.
TFS, José M.

  • Great 
  • batu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1056 W: 289 N: 3914] (13202)
  • [2006-11-30 14:48]
  • [+]

Guten Abend Peter,
das Blau dieser Tagfalter ist faszinierend. Es kommt auch auf deinem Bild gut 'rüber'. Die Tiefenschärfe ist gut, Details sind aber nicht ganz so klar wie auf deinen sonstigen Bildern. Liegt das am scharfen indisch-tropischen Licht?
P. orithya kenne ich selbst aus Indonesien und Tanzania. Gerade in Afrika inklusive Madagaskar kommen noch andere Junonia mit ausgedehntem Blau vor, wie oenone und hierta. Besonders spektakulär fand ich die fast komplett blaue J. rhadama aus Madagaskar.
Einen schönen Abend noch, Peter

Hallo Peter,
sehr schönes Foto von diesen "Blauen Pansy". Sehr gute Schärfe, Tiefenschärfe und schöne Farben. Sehr gut ins Bild gestellt - eine gut gelungene Komposition.
Gruß
Heinz

Nice color and detail. Good composition.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3551 W: 143 N: 5621] (18399)
  • [2006-11-30 15:14]

Hi Peter.
Extreme close-up with tremendous details and sharpness of the butterfly. The beauty of this specimen is fantastic. The best workshop series and explanations. My compliments and best regards.
Alexei.

Hello Peter.
Great composition.
It is a beautiful butterfly with excellent colors and details.
Love the position of the butterfly on the grass and the wings olmost half open.
Regards
JC

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4774 W: 294 N: 4020] (13209)
  • [2006-11-30 16:51]

Hello Peter,
Wonderful capture.I lied POV,colors,details and framing a lot.Have a very good day too!
TFS..:-)

Hi Peter,

lovely shot of a lovely coloured butterfly
Good sharpness, coloours, POV and DOF

TFS Thijs

Hi Peter,
Nice shot. Great gliterry colors of this blue butterfly. Very nice natural surrounding for this picture. Great sharpness.

Ben Lakitan

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3318 W: 149 N: 6113] (18646)
  • [2006-12-01 0:15]

Peter, you show her so close and so sharply too. I do like the colours of the wings. Well done,
Janice

Another beautiful butterfly superbly captured Peter.
Butterflies on the ground are always hard but you've done a good job here.
Excellent sharpness.

Hi Peter,
Good picture.
Great butterfly capture; great colors and sharpness!
TFS
Annick

Hello Peter,

excellent colors and details on this butterfly, excellent POV DOF perfect BG, nicly composed and capture photo,

TFS Kyle

Peter,

great job,
beautiful colors,
very well done on the framing,

fototab

Hi peter,
The is a beautiful butterfly which i had posted long time back. wonderful colors like the saris our women wear(Though the numbers who wear them here in IT capital of india is reducing day by day)
The composition and colors are excellent.
TFS
Goutham R

Hi
What I like here the most are the details of wings. We can see the scales on it. Interesting POV. Perfect sharpnes
Good job
Krzysztof

Sorry for catching up with this delightful image late, Peter.
I have had a look at the workshops too.
I may sound a bit territorial here, but this image of Blue Pansy looks good to me in the bright sunshine of Jaipur, India.
It is a brilliant capture and a superior image from every point of view.
Thanks for sharing another "gem" from India.
Regards,
Ram

Hello Peter,
I missed many of your post and my attention was immediately brought to this one because of its great color! I like this very good POV, details and composition. This blue color is really amazing and we can see all those tinny details from the wings to its head. This is a beautiful capture! I also liked those so interesting pictures in WS. Great notes! Thanks,
Claudine

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