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Papilio machaon


Papilio machaon
Photo Information
Copyright: Luciano Gollini (lousat) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1081 W: 6 N: 2996] (11102)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-06-20
Categories: Insects
Exposure: f/3.4
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2008-06-21 8:48
Viewed: 559
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 62
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Superfamily: Papilionoidea

Family: Papilionidae

Subfamily: Papilioninae

Tribe: Papilionini

Genus: Papilio

Species: P. machaon

The Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. The butterfly is also known as the Common Yellow Swallowtail or, simply, The Swallowtail (a common name applied to all members of the family). It is the type species of the genus Papilio and occurs throughout the Palearctic region in Europe and Asia; it also occurs across North America, and thus is not restricted to the Old World, despite the common name.This striking butterfly is yellow with black wing and vein markings and a wingspan of 8 to 10 cm. The hind wings of both sexes have a pair of protruding tails which give the butterfly its common name. Just below each tail is a red eye spot.This butterfly is present throughout the entire Palearctic region through Russia to China and Japan (including the Himalayas and Taiwan) and across into Alaska, Canada, and the United States. In Asia it is reported as far south as Saudi Arabia, Oman and the high mountains of Yemen.
In Southern Asia it occurs in Pakistan and Kashmir, Northern India (Sikkim, to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) Nepal, Bhutan and northern Myanmar.
This butterfly is widespread in Europe but in the United Kingdom it is limited to a few areas in the Norfolk Broads of East Anglia. It is the UK's largest resident butterfly. The Monarch Danaus plexippus is slightly larger but is only a rare vagrant.There are 37 subspecies.
Papilio machaon gorganus is strongly migratory in Europe and can be found in almost all habitats.
In the UK, P. m. brittanicus is an endemic subspecies, but occasionally individuals of the continental subspecies gorganus breed temporarily on the south coast. Subspecies brittanicus differs from the continental subspecies in being more heavily marked in black.
The Maltese Islands are home to another endemic subspecies, P. m. melitensis. There are usually two to three broods in a year, but in northern areas the species may be single-brooded. In some places like the UK some will pupate and emerge in the same year and others will overwinter as pupae before emerging the following year, a situation known as being partially double brooded.The caterpillar spends the first part of its life with the appearance of a bird dropping, an effective defence against predators. As the caterpillar grows larger it becomes green with black and orange markings. The caterpillar still has a defence against predators in the form of an organ called an osmeterium which consists of retractable, fleshy projections behind its head that can release a foul smell.

Il Macaone (Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758) è una farfalla della famiglia delle Papilionidae, famiglia prevalentemente tropicale, di cui solo 9 specie presenti in Italia.

Con i suoi quasi 8 centimetri di apertura alare massima, non è difficile incontrarla e notarla soprattutto nelle campagne o in collina dall'inizio della primavera (periodo in cui le crisalidi sfarfallano), fino ad autunno inoltrato.

I bruchi, verdi con anelli neri punteggiati di giallo, si nutrono di Apiaceae, come ad esempio il finocchio e la carota. Se disturbati, estroflettono da dietro la testa un paio di ghiandole a forma di corno (osmaterium), che emettono un odore repellente che tiene lontani i predatori.

Elegante ed agile nel volo, il maschio è anche difensore del proprio territorio; se vi capitasse di vederne due che volteggiano vicini in audaci acrobazie, probabilmente uno sta cercando di cacciare l'altro.
Anche il Macaone presenta il tipico comportamento da Butterfly Hilltopping, ovvero cerca di volare sopra il punto più alto del terreno in cui si trova (dominio).
Juyona, nglen, Luis52, alikox, zulfu, Silvio2006, Arjun, gerbilratz, boreocypriensis, Royaldevon, bahadir, maurydv, writerscrawlz, CeltickRanger, Miss_Piggy, Hormon_Manyer, haraprasan, goldyrs, ramthakur, eqshannon, uleko, nirmalroberts, valy67 has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2085 W: 9 N: 5843] (22132)
  • [2008-06-21 9:06]

Hi Luciano. Once again a good close up of the Butterfly. we have not seen mant in the bad weather we are having. You have good detail and colours. I like the pose on the bright flower. well done TFS. good notes too.
Nick.

Hola Luciano.
Hermosa la foto de esta bella gran mariposa. Finos detalles en la imagen y agradables colores en sus alas. La iluminacion es perfecta tambien.
Algo de trabajo en esta foto, espero sea de Tu agrado.
Luis52.

Hi Luciano,
I liked the posture of the butterfly and the backlighted wings. Wings and flower are a bit overexposed.
Best regards,
Ali

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 561 W: 0 N: 100] (609)
  • [2008-06-21 9:41]

Hello Luciano
Wonderful close-up shot of this beautiful butterfly. TFS. Regards,
Mehmet

Ciao Luciano, splendido macaone, una tra le nostre più belle farfalle, molto fotogenico.
Ottima la composizione con il bel fiore e la ripresa da tre quarti che consente di ammirare ambo le facce delle ali, bravo, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • Arjun Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 306 W: 3 N: 780] (3670)
  • [2008-06-21 11:03]

hi luciano,
wonderful picture..excellent composition and details.lovely BG too.sharpness is also very good..
Subject composition apart from the centre of the screen would have been better
TFS

Hi Luciano, this is wonderful, such a great POV and composition. The use of light has made this an excellent capture. One of my favourites, regards h

Hello Luciano
This is a stunning capture of the swallowtail..He is perched on flower whose subtle shades add so much to the really sharp subject.
Perfect Work
Best Regards
Paul

Hi Luciano, my beloved friend,
Another splendid macro capture of a butterfly with excellent detailsi good POV and DOF. Many thanks for sharing this beauty my friend! Have a great day! :)
Cheers,

bayram

Hello Luciano,

This is an excellent capture of the swallotail!
I really like how you managed to take it with its wings up, as if its about to fly. It enables us to appreciate the lovely scalloped edge of the wings as well as its pattern!

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

Hello Luciano, superb shot in all aspects. TFS. Regards,
Bahadır

Splendido macaone sul fiore di trifoglio, ottimi POV frontale e composizione con le ali viste in trasparenza (sembra una di quelle vetrate colorate delle chiese), ottima nitidezza, magnifici i colori. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio

Incredible, we posted the same subject, though yours is clearer and the POV is much better. I love the colors, the framing, composition, and the subject. Nicely done and your notes are excellent.

Hi Luciano,
WoW! Quelle belle netteté (Sharpness) et jolies couleurs naturelles, superbe capture et composition , Très jolie photo,
Mes compliments
Michel

hello Luciano

beautiful shot of this butterfly, with fine POV, DOF and framing,
excellent luminosity of the image, with excellent sharpness
and details, and great eye-contact of the butterfly with you, TFS

Asbed

Hallo Luciano
A beautiful and most colourful image of this butterfly and it surroundings. Well exposed and good use of lighting. The pinkish colour of the flower stands out well and is a good combination for the multi-coloured butterfly. The composition is very pleasing. Nicely done and presented. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your day.
Kind regards
Anna

Ciao Luciano
Questa farfalla è uno il mio di preferiti.
Grazie nudi di mostrarlo ' vista di sotto '.
Amicizie
Laurent

Hi my Friend Luciano,
Wonderful shot of the Papilio from an interesting POV. Fantastic pose and colors, although 'Luis52' is right about the background noise, I'm afraid. But an image worth looking at overall.
Ciao e grazie, László

Bella imagen luciano, donde la Papilio reina y domina la situación. Buenos colores. Encuadre algo ladeado.

No soy forofo (tifosi), pero Pirlo estará mejor descansando jejeje. Espero que la "escuadra azul" no sea tan "salvaje" como en otras ocasiones. De todas formas , España nunca gana a Italia ... aunque hoy espero un España 3 Italia 1

Hi Luciano,
A lovely capture of this beautiful swallowtail. Superb details and a lovely composition. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Delightful image of this lovely Swallowtail, Luciano.
The colours of both the butterfly and the flower are beautiful.
Very sharp and crisp image.
TFS and regards.
Ram

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2079 W: 6 N: 2088] (13475)
  • [2008-06-22 6:12]

Hola amigo,
bella captura,
colores y pov,
elegante y fino trabajo,
saludos
pt.

Hello Luciano,
Wonderful presentation with a perfect POV. Colours and sharpness are excellent.
Regards,
Peter

I love it and was playing with it last night before bed. I copied it with a new program which means I don't have to download it..I can simply edit it in some other magical way...but since this one is so good I just toyed and didn't do any workshop. they say you cannot fix something if it isn't broken.
bob

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2543 W: 170 N: 7734] (24475)
  • [2008-06-22 7:52]

Hello Luciano,
Wonderful capture of the Swallowtail in a lovely pose against the sun and from a low POV. Great sharpness and beautiful colours. The background is a bit busy but the butterfly stands out sharply!
Many thanks and cheers, Ulla

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 982 W: 4 N: 2512] (11673)
  • [2008-06-22 8:26]

Hello Luciano, WOW what a shot. Excellent closeup macro with brilliant lighting. Excellent composition. Ganesh

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1812 W: 243 N: 5978] (21303)
  • [2008-06-22 13:03]

Lovely photo of this Swallowtail Butterfly!
Excellent sharpness and clarity.
Superb composition too.
I love the vibrent colours.

Well done, Luciano!

Ciao,
Joe

Just catching up, my friend, Luciano..
Goldy

Hi Luciano,
Excellent picture of this lovely butterfly. TFS.
I haven't been regular on TN recently. Hence, missed many of your posts. I'll return to see all of them.
Regards,
- Nirmal

Bonjour Luciano !
Ah le machaon ! Je viens de voir le pemier, cette année, il y a une heure à peine, je vais y retourner demain avec l'appareil photo. En tout cas, cette image là est très belle, j'adore la pose du papillon, la composition et le POV, l'ensemble est très harmonieux. Une très jolie lumière également. Félicitations !
Valerie.

  • Great 
  • sayat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 270 W: 0 N: 204] (1207)
  • [2008-07-08 9:43]

Wow! Fantastic details and an amazing sharpness my firend. The light through the wing is an excellent capture. Great job!

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