An 'Hecale's Longwing' at Berkeley butterfly house

I have felt very tired all day, but enjoyed our trip to the butterfly house at Berkeley Castle, situated near to the river Severn. I drove Helena, Camilla and Sridhar there early this afternoon and we spent a wonderful hot and sticky hour or so in the tropical heat of the glasshouse.

I took lots of pictures but didn't get as many successes as I'd hoped, so I will go back soon on my own and try to catch specific images of certain of the species in flight.

I think this is an 'Hecale's Longwing'  butterfly which I'm blipping because I like its orange colour against the verdant greens of the plants. The light is coloured a shade of blue because of the blue-green gauze stretched across the inside of the greenhouse glass to provide a level of shade for all the tropical plants, many of which probably prefer to be out of direct sunlight. We saw a couple of massive Giant Atlas Moths, which have the largest surface area of any moth, settled high up on a climbing plant with its wings open. An amazing sight when some females have wingspans of 28 cms. Apparently once it reaches the flying stage, it no longer eats and has only a week in which to lay its eggs before it dies. So much to learn in that strangely ethereal environment.