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Polyxena. (68)
peter_stoeckl
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1629 W: 287 N: 3647]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (10221) | Polyxena.
That morning on a bright and sunny day in May it was a quick decision to leave my work behind at downtown Vienna. After a lonesome drive through the plains east of Vienna I reached the river forests of Donau-March-Thaya National Park with its splendid large colonies of tree-breeding storks. A faboulous sight, but this time I was walking by and heading straight to a patch of dry meadows at the edge of swampy river forests, deliberately in search of a speciality of local butterflies.
Arriving there it was a silent moment with the sun hiding behind clouds. There was a single stork walking through the meadow in search of frogs, the sound of crickets, distant nightingales and orioles in the air, a peaceful place to sit and relax.
With the sun coming out again some yellow butterflies showed up at once, just as expected - and yet coming as a happy surprise. Rapidly flying close to the ground with quick strokes of wings and short glidings they were easily recognized but hard to approach.
The shadow of another cloud made them sit down in the vegetation again, and my attempts to get into picture-taking distance were successful in the end. Feeling happy with this year’s fresh observation in good numbers of a species that is considered to be severely endangered, even threatened by extinction in Austria.
Zerynthia polyxena (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
Southern Festoon,
Osterluzeifalter,
Zuidelijke pijpbloemvlinder,
Farkasalmalepke,
Pestrokřídlec podražcový,
Pestroň vlkovcovový,
Kokornakowiec,
la Diane,
Polissena.
Family: Papilionidae
Subfamily: Parnassiinae
Wing span: 50 - 52mm
Distributed from South-Eastern France, Italy, Eastern Austria, Moravia, Slovakia, Hungary, the Balkan, Greece, Northern Turkey, Ukraine to Kasachstan, very locally in small colonies, the species was first described in 1775 from the region near Vienna I am reporting of now - the marshlands of the rivers Danube and Moravia to the east of Vienna which is now the protected area of Donau-March-Thaya National Park.
The butterfly may be seen in one generation in April and May on warm and dry grassland and at the edges of vineyards where Aristolochia clematitis, its feeding plant, can be found.
The species is highly endangered in most parts of its territory by rapid loss of habitat - by reforestation, intensified agriculture, or simply by turning "wasteland" into industrial estates, gas stations, shopping centres and parking lots.
The camera:
SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, zoom setting 19mm tele macro (equivalent 115mm at full size SLR), F/4, 1/1000 sec., ISO-125, bias -0.3, hand held, no flash. 09.05.2008, 11:40.
Postwork:
Photoshop Elements, slightly cropped, downsized to the web, selectively resharpened, levels slightly adjusted.
Literature:
Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Die Tagfalter Europas und Nordwestafrikas, Stuttgart 1998.
C. Jonko: Butterflies and Moths of Europe: http://www.lepidoptera.pl/
> Polyxena visiting Ornithogalum umbellatum.
Thank you for looking.
Have a very good day. |
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peter_stoeckl
(10221)
PS CS2
Edited by:marmottelolo
(14691) |
peter
afin que mon commentaire vous parraisse plus clair j'ai fait ce WS.
j'ai etiré eu peu les bords droit et en haut afin de donner un peu plus d'espace devant le papillon.
laurent |
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| Altered Image #1
peter_stoeckl
(10221)
Ornithogalum umbellatum.
Edited by:peter_stoeckl
(10221) |
Zerynthia polyxena,
visiting Ornithogalum umbellatum (Star-of-Bethlehem, Grass Lily),
a perennial flowering plant of Hyacinthaceae, seen in abundance in some of the dry meadows around Vienna these days.
The camera:
SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, zoom setting 17mm tele macro (equivalent 100mm at full size SLR), F/3,5, 1/800 sec., ISO-125, bias -0.3, hand held, no flash. 09.05.2008, 11:48.
Hope you enjoy. |
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