popinjay, scat puddling
If you are on butterfly watch on a trail, the best place to spot them would be over rotten fruits—or animal scats. Butterflies do mud puddling for their sodium/salt intake. Probably for similar reasons, they also end up on animal scats, and the behavior can be called scat puddling.
The image here is of a popinjay butterfly, intoxicated by the decomposing animal scat, and unaware of the surroundings. There are more butterflies enjoying the feast, in the image below—how many can you spot?
Species: Stibochiona nicea, Common Name: Popinjay, Family: Nymphalidae
Date: 23 Mar 2013
Location: Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Camera: Nikon D80 + Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens
i can see “Common Map” butterfly. Am i right?
Are there 5 butterflies, and do they represent 4, or 3 species? That Popinjay is beautiful. Oh, nice tip about the muddling and puddling!
Yes John, 5 of them – belongs to 4 species. 🙂
love it… amazing capture
Lovely images of the butterfly! The black color of the building somehow does not blend with the beauty of the bird.
What a butterfly !! Loved it 🙂 Nice blog too
Beautiful photographs!