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Wednesday 1 June 2011

Enjoying a drink----tree sap eating butterflies

While most butterflies depend on nectar for food, a small number of species rely on tree sap. The other day, I saw several Nymphalidae family butterflies feeding on an old citrus tree.

This is a Constable butterfly. It is not very commonly seen in Hong Kong. 



Although its wings are not as colourful as the nectar eating butterflies, its bright red coloured proboscis stands out. 


The Red Ring Skirt, on the other hand, is more brightly coloured than the Constable with a beautiful yellow proboscis.



The  size of the Yellow Rajah is bigger than the other two.



As in the human world, the big guys sometimes like to be in charge. The Yellow Rajah is not happy that the Constable is feeding on the same tree trunk. 




The Red Ring Skirt seems to be annoying to him too.


12 comments:

Janny said...

Wow very beautiful Butterfly's realy fantastic
Greetings Janny

HANS-PETER ZÜRCHER said...

Wonderful shots from the kingdom of butterflies ...

Many greetings from Switzerland

Hans-Peter

Birdy Official said...

Lovely butterflies and great captures. Never saw any of them in our area. But I'm sure that they must be exist in some part of my country.

Life in Egypt said...

http://myegyptblog.wordpress.com/
I am on my last week of blogging from Egypt. the place is becoming a cesspit, not just the city but its people.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

I enjoy seeing butterfly photos. You don't get to see photos of them as often as other subjects in the animal world on peoples blogs. Very nice close-ups.

Chris said...

Wow what an amazing butterfly... Ho colorful it is!! Beautiful set of pictures. Well done!

Shelley said...

Gorgeous butterfly photos! Nice to see what exists in your part of the world.

墨鱼 said...

Amazing butterfly!! There is a Butterfly Farm in Penang-Malaysia. Please come & visit. You will like it! :-)

Unknown said...

Stunning collection of images, such wonderful colours.

Nature Rambles said...

Gorgeous photos you got there! I have never come across the Constable and the Red Skirt.

Mike Barth said...

Very interesting series !

Unknown said...

Beautiful pics of these butterflies! We have been to Shenzhen, but didn't have the visa needed for Hong Kong...another time may be:)