Greetings in this new opportunity, beautiful Insects Of The World community, today I have returned to share a beauty that I was able to photograph days ago, when I went out to my solar, at around three in the afternoon. There is something curious, and it is that I have been able to observe that at that time of day, there are many butterflies fluttering around the backyard, many more than the ones that I usually observe at dawn, at noon or at sunset, I suppose that at that time the sun is more propitious, and the breeze is not so strong. That day I observed a large number of butterflies, but I was only able to take a burst of photos of this beautiful specimen, which is rare to see in this area of my house.
By searching for images with the Google Lens application, I found that this beautiful butterfly belongs to the species known as Hamadryas feronia. I cannot guarantee that I have previously seen a similar butterfly, but it is very probable, however, in addition to its beautiful design, its flight, which was in circles, caught my attention, as well as the fact that it landed on the guava tree (Psidium guajava).
The bibliographic review, (see links in the bibliography section of this post), indicates that this insect is known as thundering butterfly, since the males make a very particular sound when flying, in order to demarcate territory. When I remember days ago, when I took these photos, I remember that yes, there was a certain particular sound made by this lepidopteran when it flew. The sources consulted also indicate that they pose with their heads down, as can be seen in the series of photos that I include in this post.
On the other hand, the basis of its diet is rotting fruit, and the sap of the trees, so it makes sense that this insect would flutter around, because this guava tree bears a lot of fruit, and some fall to the ground or on the branches, rotting. If you look carefully, you can see that there are traces of the seeds of a guava fruit, near this butterfly.
Being this a male specimen, (I deduce it from the sound it made when flying), and being territorial animals, I suppose that it was demarcating its territory, in addition to taking advantage of sunbathing, and feeding on guava remains. The consulted bibliography indicates that this species has commercial value for the sale of specimens, (biobusinesses), although it is almost impossible to breed it in captivity, unknown according to the authors of the study (Vásquez-Bardales, Vargas-Zelada, Pinedo Jiménez, García-Ruiz, Valderrama-Freyre and Ramírez-Hernández, 2018), the causes related to this difficulty.
Here I end my post today, in which I wanted to share my observations on a beautiful and unique insect, which makes my backyard happy. Greetings.
Fuente documental / documentary source
Todas las fotos de este post son de mi autoría y fueron tomadas con mi teléfono Xiomi REDMI 8 A // These photos are my own, and were taken with a Xiomi REDMI 8 A phone
Los divisores son cortesía de
quien comparte bellos diseños que embellecen el maquetado de nuestras publicaciones. // The dividers used are courtesy of
who shares beautiful designs that embellish the layout of our post.
En caso de que se requiera utilizar el contenido o las imágenes de este post y de mis otras publicaciones, agradecería que se hiciera referencia a mi autoría (Fabiola Martínez) y se citara el enlace correspondiente. Gracias. // In case it is required to use the content or images of this post and of my other publications, I would appreciate if you could refer to my authorship (Fabiola Martínez) and cite the corresponding link. Thanks.