Morning girl

Recently — http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-06-29 — I was fortunate to capture a dark-form female Easter Tiger Swallowtail. (There is also a yellow-form female which looks similar to the male: yellow with black stripes, hence the name “tiger.”) Today I happened to find two: one in the morning on my way to class and one in the afternoon on my way to the gym! This is the “morning girl.”

The “afternoon girl” had one distinct difference from this one: she had an orange mark on the upper surface of her forewings. Photos of the “afternoon girl” are here: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/910133

The earlier post was an under-the-wings shot from below, so here is a top-down view of a dark-form female Easter Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus; family, Papilionidae; subfamily, Papilioninae).

Photo taken in outside garden next to the SIUC Plant Biology Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

Confirmed at BAMONA as Papilio glaucus or “Easter Tiger Swallowtail”; http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/910132

One year ago (“Marcia & Missy”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-07-12
Two years ago (“Milo”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-07-12

[Michelle]

I never manage to capture butterflies... I am rather jealous.. you get loads...
Simply stunning :)

[Rick Schies]

What a beauty

[Deanna Russell]

I love that you can see the light through her wings. Great capture!

[Molly]

wow, i searched the butterfly tag after uploaded my own butterfly shot just out of curiosity and this is truly amazing! i really love this shot, puts mine to shame!

[Thom Mitchell]

@michelleyoung @digitalrn @drussell @mollyrosephotos Thank you, all! My computer's Recycle Bin has a lot of "RAW" and ".jpg" files! This one isn't really in the sharp focus I would normally want to post to 365, but this was the best of the lot and one of the ones I used to confirm its species, so you'll see this photo here, too: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/910132.

[Anna Mae Andrews]

The juxtaposition of the butterfly on the flower made me think of a fancy evening dress. FAV!

[Angelique]

I really admire your butterfly captures!! Timing is everything! Greatness!