Eye-to-eye with a butterfly

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Eye-to-eye with a butterfly

September 17, 2016 by Mike Powell

Have you ever gone eye-to-eye with a butterfly? Yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park this Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria Cybele) was so focused on feeding that it let me get pretty close, close enough to see its cool speckled eyes and its extended proboscis.

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Speyeria cybele, Tamron 180mm | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on September 17, 2016 at 7:30 am | Reply Pete Hillman

These are wonderful Mike! The colours and detail ar fabulous.
on September 17, 2016 at 11:08 am | Reply laura lecce

Stunning photos! I love the warm browns against the yellow flowers.
on September 17, 2016 at 1:35 pm | Reply waltersanford

I think you like saying “proboscis” — you’ve used the word twice in recent posts. 😉
- on September 17, 2016 at 5:50 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I do. I’d call it a tongue, but fear that folks would be all over me about that.
on September 17, 2016 at 1:36 pm | Reply waltersanford

I don’t see any categories or tags. (What am I missing?) Did you use “the grinder” to take these shots?
- on September 17, 2016 at 5:49 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  When I am looking at the post, I see seven tags for it, plus four categories. I did in fact use the “grinder.”
on September 17, 2016 at 3:17 pm | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

Wow! What absolutely incredible images!
on September 17, 2016 at 4:26 pm | Reply dianaed2013

just fantastic
on September 17, 2016 at 9:22 pm | Reply krikitarts

The eyes have it, and the speckled ones are particularly intriguing.
- on September 19, 2016 at 9:30 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Gary. I love to look into the eyes of insects and find dragonfly eyes especially fascinating, though butterfly eyes are a close second.