Also posted for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #63 – Magical.
Wordless Wednesday
Category: Butterflies and Moths
Focusing On How A Butterfly Eats
A butterfly eats by extending its tongue like structure, called a proboscis, and using it like a straw to suck up liquid food such as nectar. It drinks water the same way. In the second photo, it would appear that the pollen covered proboscis might be headed toward the butterfly’s mouth to be consumed. I even assumed that to be the case. However, when I did some research, I discovered that what is on the outside of the proboscis is immaterial. The butterfly in the second photo is actually finished sucking up the nectar of that particular flower, and is, in fact, coiling its “tongue” back up into the resting position.
Posted for Dutch Goes the Photo!’s Tuesday Photo Challenge: Focus.
Macro Monday
I don’t actually have a macro lens yet (I’m saving my pennies) so I have to use my 200mm telephoto, then enlarge and crop. (The image would have been clearer if I had a macro lens.) As a result, I didn’t even know I had captured this beauty. I thought I was just taking a picture of a beautiful flower that I could enlarge to show the detail. As I was looking at this photo in my iPhoto library, I noticed something was sitting on the bottom portion of the flower. I wasn’t even sure what it was at first because I was just browsing thumbnails. I clicked on the photo to see what I could do with it – whether or not I could edit it into a usable photo and voilà! C’est merveilleux! And an unexpected grace.
*This, by the way, is a butterfly, not a moth. You can tell by looking at three things.
- The antennae are smooth, not hairy or feathery looking.
- The butterfly is resting with the wings up. Moths generally rest with their wings spread out flat.
- This picture was taken during the day. Moths come out at night.
