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Morpho Menelaus


Morpho Menelaus
Photo Information
Copyright: Jim Costello (bullybeef53) Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 28 W: 5 N: 140] (644)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-04-09
Categories: Insects
Camera: Sony Dsc F-717, 58mm UV
Exposure: f/2
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-04-24 20:01
Viewed: 590
Points: 2
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Morpho Menelaus is the name of this photo and the underwings are soft brown, bronze & white. One of the most amazing animals in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America is the Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho Menelaus). Its amazing blue wings that can reflect light make it not only amazing but also beautiful. It was impossible for me to capture these blue wonders in flight.
They live in the canopy layer but often venture into the forest floor. They do this in order to find the rotten fruits they like to drink the juice from. The two most interesting facts about their feeding are that they taste food with their legs and that they are cannibals as caterpillars. Their cannibalism is their only threat.
Blue Morpho Butterflies have several predators. They are: baby jaguars that kill them thinking it's all a game, birds, and fish when they are near water. But their worst nightmare are humans like you and me who venture into their peaceful habitat to catch them and sell them in glass cases to people who will hang them on a wall and won't even care when it falls and breaks. Through out the centuries they have fought for survival
In order to survive they have had to go through several changes. The underside of their wings is the same color as foliage in order to camouflage when they crypsis (fold wings when resting so the only the underside shows). Even though, it has been forced to change its life style in order to protect itself. It has learned to fly in a very unusual way so that the blue side of their wings shows only once in a while and very quickly. A very interesting fact about how they protect themselves is that they flash the bright blue side of their wings in the face of baby jaguars and blind them. They take so much care of themselves and yet they are terrible parents.
This photograph was cropped, level adjusted, unsharp mask 186, 1, 6, and saved for the web. The focal length of my Sony camera was 10.8 MM.
After taking these photographs, my Sony camera’s sensor broke and after checking on the web I realize that hot and humid conditions cause a failure in some Sony cameras and mine was one of them. It was sent back to get repairs without a cost to me.
If you have a similar problem please check with Sony.
PS: These photographs were taken at a live butterfly exhibition in cold St. John’s. It was 30°C inside and -10°C outside.
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Critiques [Translate]

Oh, what a superb close up of the face of a butterfly ! I like the shallow DOF which focuses all the attention on those amazing eyes. One 'waving' antenna lends action to an otherwise static image. Great color and saturation, fine detail.

TFS, Mish

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