After photographing Female Plain Tiger, I was in the hunt for the Male Plain Tiger. As the Plain Tiger is known to be parasitized at least occasionally by Spiroplasma bacteria which selectively kill off male hosts, a subsequent scarcity of Plain Tiger males might have led to this hybridization and the evolution of the new … Read more
I had written long back on Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus) butterfly. At that time I was using Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM with 36mm of extension tube to photograph this Plain Tiger butterfly. Soon after the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly photograph session which I published last week, I spotted a female plain tiger butterfly nearby. … Read more
Monkey Puzzle I am referring to, is neither the political game which our politicians play, nor any other game I am trying to promote. That afternoon I was teaching my 10 year old daughter Neethi few basics of photography when she spotted a small butterfly with several tail filaments sitting on a crape jasmine bush. … Read more
I saw this Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) butterfly on a dry twig on the same evening I was photographing kites I wrote about in my last blog. I was carrying my Canon EOS 5D mark II fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM + Canon EF 2X II Extender. This 600mm rig was … Read more
This beautiful moth is a fruit-piercing moth (Noctuidae: Calpinae [sometimes included in subfamily Ophiderinae or Catocalinae]) in the genus Eudocima. There are several similar looking species in India, but I believe this one is probably Eudocima hypermnestra. I found this moth on a broomstick near the window inside my house. It was quite camouflaged in … Read more
Kudremukh National Park is treasure trove for animal watchers. Entering into the Malleshwara township inside Kudremukh National Park on that day we spotted a cicada sitting on a moss covered tree branch. As I was photographing the cicada which was sitting higher up in the branch I noticed from the corner of my eye a … Read more