Common Wood Nymph

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Common Wood Nymph

July 10, 2018 by Mike Powell

The combination of springtime rain and summertime heat in our area has caused a real explosion of insects. Some of them, like deer flies and mosquitoes, mercilessly harass me when I go out with my camera, but a lot of them are amazingly beautiful, like this spectacular Common Wood Nymph butterfly (Cercyonis pegala) that I spotted this past weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Many woodland butterflies are rather drab in appearance and it is hard for me to identify their species. With the Common Wood Nymph, though, the yellow patch on the wings makes them almost instantly recognizable.

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon 50D, Cercyonis pegala, Common Wood Nymph, Common Wood Nymph butterfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on July 10, 2018 at 7:22 am | Reply Dan Antion

Great photo, Mike. I love the contrast.
- on July 10, 2018 at 7:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Dan. One of the things about this particular species is that they often perch on trees in the shadows. In this case, there was some light coming through that illuminated the butterfly, but not the background, which helped provide some additional contrast.
on July 10, 2018 at 10:45 am | Reply blhphotoblog

Nice one Mike!
on July 10, 2018 at 1:53 pm | Reply Pete Hillman

I opened this is up full and it is magnificent, Mike!
- on July 11, 2018 at 6:17 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Pete. I was fortunate to have a relatively cooperative subject in a situation in which the lighting was pretty dramatic.
on July 11, 2018 at 3:40 pm | Reply Reed Andariese

Nice! Butterflies are fun also!!