Butterfly

[Dave Leroy]

Now I could be wrong about the butterfly. I looked at a ton of photos to try and identify and couldn't, but I am going to guess on a butterfly. Taken this morning on a windy day.
7D, 100mm macro with 20mm Kenko ET, 1/80, f/5.6, ISO1000, Av at +2/3, and A1 Servo. Tripod.
Dave

[John Storjohann]

Dave, excellent work on this one...the sharpness and detail are fantastic...love the color, and the diagonal line draws your eye through the image. Great handling of the DOF given your aperture and using an extension tube. Nicely done! :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Awesome looking butterfly, Dave, and excellent IQ, details. Very nicely framed and composed, nice color and contrast to BG, love the mesh detail on the antenna. Well done!

[christopher galeski]

very nice image Dave,like the BG,nice detail in the butterfly,nice color.well done.

[Carel v/d Sanden]

Good sharpness and nice colors.
BG good, nice and clear

[jack williamson]

This is one interesting looking...thing. Looking at the antennae I would think that this a moth. What a great color this thing is! Great composition, great sharpness, and the BG is awesome!

Jack

[Dave Leroy]

I agree Jack. The bit I know of butterflies and moths the antenna would say moth. It just seemed some of the other identifiers were saying butterfly. I'll process another with the wings down and post a bit later.
Dave

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dave. This might be a Virginia Ctenucha (Ctunucha virginica) - one of a group of small moths that mimic wasps. I usually see these with their wings folded flat on their backs rather than upright like this. Nice sharpness, good diagonal comp, and an excellent background. I wonder if this could go a little darker overall? This is very nicely done!

[Dave Leroy]

Right you are Steve. Thanks for that. I think I am pretty close to the colour. I was surprised by the amount of blue under the wings as when folded flat they are a light grey. Perhaps some variations from area to area.
Dave

[Julie Kenward]

That's definitely a moth - butterflies don't have those "feathery" antennas. Love the colors in this image, Dave. I'd probably crop a slight bit off the top but leave everything else as is. Dynamite focus on this one!

[Ken Childs]

Hey Dave, I think this has been pretty well covered but I'm still wondering about the color. This species should have some blue, especially on the thorax and the abdomen but not so much on the wings. If it really was this color, you found an unusual specimen.

You should submit this one to BugGuide. They don't have any records of Ctenucha virginica in BC.

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks Ken. I have been away and just getting back into things.
I'll check my RAW file and the others I have of similar pose but pretty sure this is all right.
I will submit to Bug Guide and let you know what they think.

Dave

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks Ken. I did go back and removed a bit of color cast on the original. Not quite as much blue this time around. Also BugGuide has confirmed that both this post and this one the next day

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/88256-Virginia-Ctenucha-Moth

are in fact both Yellow-collared Scape Moths.

So thanks again.

Here is the repost.

Dave