Carleton University Butterfly Exhibit 2012 – Final Day – October 8, 2012
As is normal for the butterfly show at Carleton University, the number of people who want to get into the Greenhouses to see the butterflies tends to exceed the available time and at some point THE SIGN had to come out! Continue reading
Carleton University Butterfly Exhibition 2012 – Day 7
Although there have been a few moments when the weather has appeared to be a bit threatening, and a few moments of apprehension when umbrellas had to be unfurled, the weather has so far cooperated and those in the line-ups at the greenhouses have had pretty decent weather. During this same period, my father passed away and thus my planned visits to the greenhouses had to be curtailed. Today, however, the greenhouses were on my route and a stop of an hour was in order. Continue reading
Carleton University Butterfly Exhibition 2012 – Day 3
I arrived at the Greenhouse on Monday just as the last of the school group tours was finishing for the day. That left about an hour to photograph the butterflies with only a limited number of people in the greenhouse (i.e no line-up and no crowd).
Carleton University Butterfly Show 2012 – Day 1 – Foggy Day
The day started out rather foggy as I headed out along the Queensway on my way to the Carleton University Butterfly Exhibit at the Nesbitt Biology Building Greenhouses (location) but the warm sun soon cleared away the fog and I arrived at the greenhouses without incident. For info about the show see previous butterfly post.
Butterflies – Tailed Jay – Graphium agamemnon
Photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010. (Location)
Not surprisingly, given its wing shape and coloration when opened, the Tailed Jay is often referred to by its other common. more clearly descriptive names – The Green Spotted Triangle or the Spotted Green Kite. It is a large butterfly and its bright green coloration makes it an instant hit in the butterfly conservatory display industry. It also helps when the Tailed Jay comes for a piece of fresh orange held out to it by an excited youngster.
The Tailed Jay is native of Malaysia and south-east Asia where its coloration helps to camouflage it in the rain forest environment that it inhabits. Its range extends southward into northern Queensland.
The Tailed Jay is a member of the Swallowtail family of butterflies (Papilionidae) which includes the Tiger Swallowtail common in Eastern North America.
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Butterflies – Lemon Pansy – Jumonia lemonias
Photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010. (Location)
The Lemon Pansy is a small to medium-sized Asian butterfly that is common in old fields, vacant lots and similar well-lit quiet areas. A quick flyer but stops to rest with wings open near to the ground so accommodating for photographers. It is a member of the Nymphalidae family of butterflies (brush-footed butterflies). It belongs to the same sub-family: Nymphalinae as the Tortoiseshells of North America. The underwing colour is a dull brown with t a few spots.
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Butterflies – Zebra Longwing – Heliconius charitonia
Photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010. (Location)
The Zebra Longwing is one of the favorites of the commercial butterfly houses and exhibits. They are long lived, flashy and attracted to various members of the Passion Vine which grow well in greenhouse environments. It range includes the southern USA where it is the official Florida butterfly as well as Central America, the northern portions of South America and various islands in the Caribbean. Like many butterflies, the Zebra Longwing caterpillar is able to absorb poisonous compounds found in the Passion Vines and pass those compounds along to the adult stage thus providing some deterrent to predators which might otherwise view them as a meal. Because they survive for long periods in captivity (2 -3 months) and breed comfortably in captivity, the Zebra Longwings are often used in butterfly studies as well as being just another pretty butterfly flitting from flower to flower in butterfly exhibits.
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Butterflies – Blue Clipper – Parthenos sylvia lilacinus
There are two common colour variations of the Clipper butterflies normally on display in Butterfly Exhibitions. The above specimen which was photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010 is the blue variation (P. s. lilacinus).
The tiger-like striping of the abdomen is the primary identification feature of the species with the brown subspecies (P. S. philippensis) being the more common variety. The blue subspecies ( P. s. lilacinus) has a blue background rather than black background.
The range of the Clippers includes much of south and south-east Asia. They fly quickly in a stiff-winged fashion and are about 8-9 cm in size with females being somewhat larger than the males.
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Butterflies – Forest Mort Blue – Caligo eurilochus
Photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010. (Location)
The Forest Mort Blue is a member of the Brassolidae tribe of butterflies and is one of several of the Owl butterflies that are often on display in butterfly exhibitions. Their range includes Mexico and Central America and the Amazon regions of South America. The Owls are definitely among the largest butterflies and are a common feature in butterfly exhibitions. The Owl butterflies tend to be fond of bananas and other tropical fruit and will often spend quite a bit of their time at the feeding trays in the conservatory setting.
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Butterflies – Banded Peacock – Papilio palinurus
Photographed at the Carleton University “Live” Butterfly exhibit in the Fall of 2010. (Location)
This butterfly is one of the most attractive butterflies that is included in many of the exhibition packages. A member of the Papilionidae family of butterflies, it is a relative of the Tiger Swallowtail which is common North American member of this large family of butterflies. Among its other common names are Emerald Swallowtail, Emerald Peacock and Green Banded Peacock. It is relatively large butterfly with a wingspan in the 8 to 10 cm range and occurs naturally in South-East Asia including Burma to the Philippines.
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