Bob Allen
08-05-2009, 09:09 AM
Pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) nectaring on ocellated Humboldt lily (Lilium humboldtii ssp. ocellatum) in southern California
An image I've only seen once in my life and tried to capture for several years. This rare lily flowers only during the heat of July, in wooded wildlands along ephemeral riparian systems. In other words, it ain't easy to hike to these things and you must contend with deer flies, canyon flies, poison oak, heat, & dust, while carrying heavy equipment. The flower is about the size of your fist. This plant is pollinated only by swallowtail butterflies. It's a joy to watch them flutter up to the flower, alight on the rocking anthers (they move), crawl/flutter upward, and start to probe the flower with their proboscis, in search of nectar. Once the nectar source is located, they stick their entire head up inside the flower tube.
Though it was 8:41 am, it was already glary, sunlight bounced off the shiny tepals, and the butterfly was shaded by the flower. I cropped all 'round, removed a bright twig from lower right and behind the right wing, used recover, & dodged the butterfly a bit to brighten it up. The only other time I've witnessed this scene, I was 20 meters away and that was close enough to spook the butterfly, which did not come back. This butterfly allowed me to get about 3 meters away and stayed for about 10 minutes. I was very, very careful not to scare it away.
Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 100-400L IS at 400mm, Canon Speedlite 550EX E-TTL Flash in hotshoe.
ISO 400, 1/250 sec, f/11, EC -0.3. Handheld & nervous, I did a fair bit o'chimping after it left ;7)
An image I've only seen once in my life and tried to capture for several years. This rare lily flowers only during the heat of July, in wooded wildlands along ephemeral riparian systems. In other words, it ain't easy to hike to these things and you must contend with deer flies, canyon flies, poison oak, heat, & dust, while carrying heavy equipment. The flower is about the size of your fist. This plant is pollinated only by swallowtail butterflies. It's a joy to watch them flutter up to the flower, alight on the rocking anthers (they move), crawl/flutter upward, and start to probe the flower with their proboscis, in search of nectar. Once the nectar source is located, they stick their entire head up inside the flower tube.
Though it was 8:41 am, it was already glary, sunlight bounced off the shiny tepals, and the butterfly was shaded by the flower. I cropped all 'round, removed a bright twig from lower right and behind the right wing, used recover, & dodged the butterfly a bit to brighten it up. The only other time I've witnessed this scene, I was 20 meters away and that was close enough to spook the butterfly, which did not come back. This butterfly allowed me to get about 3 meters away and stayed for about 10 minutes. I was very, very careful not to scare it away.
Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 100-400L IS at 400mm, Canon Speedlite 550EX E-TTL Flash in hotshoe.
ISO 400, 1/250 sec, f/11, EC -0.3. Handheld & nervous, I did a fair bit o'chimping after it left ;7)