Iberian Marbled White – courtship sequence
Source: Iberian Marbled White – courtship sequence
Iberian Marbled White – courtship sequence
These nine images, which appear here in temporal sequence (from top to bottom), show a male Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis) butterfly flying around a female. I am not sure exactly … Continue Reading Iberian Marbled White – courtship sequence
The Bath White: a parapatric species or a peripatetic pierid?
Source: The Bath White: a parapatric species or a peripatetic pierid?
The Bath White: a parapatric species or a peripatetic pierid?
If you go to college (I studied Zoology) you learn a lot of exciting new words and phrases – things like parapatric speciation – very useful for impressing your friends at the … Continue Reading The Bath White: a parapatric species or a peripatetic pierid?
Butterfly body language
Source: Butterfly body language Butterflies in the family Pieridae (Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows) have evolved a very specific piece of behaviour, or body language, called the mate refusal posture: the wings of … Continue Reading Butterfly body language
Butterfly body language
Finding a mate is one of the biggest challenges facing any animal which relies on sexual reproduction. For butterflies, the process of finding, recognising and attracting a mate usually rests … Continue Reading Butterfly body language
Common but extremely beautiful: The small tortoiseshell
Source: Common but extremely beautiful: The small tortoiseshell
Common but extremely beautiful: The small tortoiseshell
We are in the middle of The big butterfly count which is a nationwide survey run by Butterfly Conservation, Friday 14 July to Sunday 6 August, to assess the status of the nation’s butterflies … Continue Reading Common but extremely beautiful: The small tortoiseshell
Decomposition of a mole
Source: Decomposition of a mole
Decomposition of a mole
I came across a dead mole as I was walking along a logging tract in a pine forest in Galicia, northern Spain. It looked as though it had only just … Continue Reading Decomposition of a mole
Mating Common Blue Damselflies
When damselflies mate, the male grasps the female by the front end of her thorax (the pronotum); but only if she is willing! Accepting his advance is not compulsory according … Continue Reading Mating Common Blue Damselflies
Canoodling bee-grabbers
Source: Canoodling bee-grabbers
Canoodling bee-grabbers
These remarkable flies, known as Thick-headed Flies (Conopidae), are larval parasitoids of bees and wasps. Females of this species, Conops quadrifasciatus, attack bumblebees in flight, which has earned them the name ‘bee-grabbers’. Apparently, … Continue Reading Canoodling bee-grabbers
Chasing leopards by the falls!
Source: Chasing leopards by the falls!
Wild at heart: the Giant honey bee
Source: Wild at heart: the Giant honey bee
Wild at heart: the Giant honey bee
The Giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) is a large (17–20 mm long) bee, which occurs in India and S E Asia. (1) There are four subspecies; the one shown here … Continue Reading Wild at heart: the Giant honey bee
