Orange butterfly

Pre blip - Further to my commentary on yesterdays blip, were I claimed to have seen a butterfly of 5mm wingspan. Later in the evening I visited the internet café and did a Google search. The smallest butterfly in the world is quite well documented. There are two contenders, the American quoted as 15mm wingspan and a recent Chinese discovery claiming the crown at 12mm wingspan.

Obviously my claim of 5mm does seem extreme and unlikely now. My eyesight is particularly poor, as borne out by my plastic rose blip. But the fact is that this tiny lilac colored insect moving through the air with the gait of a butterfly, caught my attention enough to follow one to answer my question, "is it a butterfly"? The insect, unfortunately, did not land and I quickly lost interest, as my camera would struggle with such a small subject anyway.

Today's task has to be to put this one to bed, hopefully with photographic evidence. I may even attempt to capture one for closer inspection. I guess it all comes down to what defines a butterfly. What ever happens, it is going to be a very interesting day.

Post blip - Excited by the days blipping prospects, I was at the grove before 9am, hoping for something good before the heat of the day. I wore a long pair of socks this time, to stop the flies from pestering me, trying to lay eggs in my sores. The skies were overcast and there was a fair breeze.

There wasn't much of anything around, although this interesting orange butterfly, if that what it is, landed close by and gave me a backup blip. I also managed a few more red flagged hoppers. Still trying to figure that one out, nothing is certain yet. It was as if the insect world knew something that I didn't, which turned out to be the truth. The heavens opened and I was forced to make a run for it.

I dried off my camera and then myself. I measured the rainfall to pass the time. The rain was falling at 1.75" per hour, fortunately only for ten minutes though.

Still keen to get back out there, I gave it an hour then returned to the grove. Selected my target flower, set the tripod up, settled on my stool and stooped down to set the focus. The eye piece was totally misted up, making focusing or even framing impossible. Insert suitable expletive here. I had to pack up and return home, again. On the way home the rain started once more and I took yet another drenching.

The lesson - always carry a plastic bag to save your camera from the weather. Well, that is it for today, all enthusiasm lost. Just hope for better luck tomorrow. I dismantled the eye piece for cleaning. It took a while to figure how to get it back together, but it is now clearer than I can ever remember. Focusing is now a lot easier. I think the camera needs to go in for a full service.

Update - Potanthus confucius - Philippines

Common name: Chinese dart Binomial: Potanthus confucius Family: Hesperiidae, Subfamily: Hesperiinae A grass skipper from the Philippines.



Dave