What stands out most about this butterfly are its bright yellow eyes. I don’t know what function the yellow has, if any, but it offers a beautiful contrast to the black, white and brown colours of the rest of the butterfly. I’m not sure how it got its name: The Courtesan (Euripus nyctelius) . It may…
This rhododendron is known as the ‘the thousand year old rose’ in Thailand, and for all I know they really do grow for a millennium. The Latin name is Rhododendron arboreum subsp. delavayi and the plant produces lovely red flowers during the winter (January and February). R. arboreum subsp. delavayi is not unique to Thailand but is also found…
This little butterfly is a member of the family Pieridae, and has a wide distribution which covers Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. I took this photograph in northern Thailand. It was reportedly given the lyrical name of ‘wandering snowflake’ by a Victorian entomologist called Charles Lionel Augustus de Nicéville, who wrote a three-volume treatise…
Ray Cannon's nature notes 