DISPUTE
Apparently in harmony at the bark of this tree punctured by a parasite insect, this butterfly (Hamadryas feronia) was constantly attacked by ants in a dispute b...
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Apparently in harmony at the bark of this tree punctured by a parasite insect, this butterfly (Hamadryas feronia) was constantly attacked by ants in a dispute by the sap flowing.
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Oct, 2015Views
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Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Top Shot Award 22
Legendary Award
People's Choice in Details of nature Photo Challenge
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Peer Award
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Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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CMEYN
December 31, 2015
Thank you. It was a lifetime oportunity to watch this with a camera in hands. :-)
Looniesmell
February 04, 2016
Great Picture and story too! I discovered these Butterflies 2 years ago on the new property we are now on...The "shock" noises they make drew my attention to them...I only had an iPhone camera then... And trying to capture them was almost impossible...The Irony is that last week on was in my laundry room on my own shirt, and let me take pictures, of course with my DSLR...no hunting involved..LOL
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CMEYN
February 05, 2016
Thank yo Loonie! This "noise" gives a common name for all butterflies from "Hamadryas" species: "Crack buttefly", here in Brazil, Borboleta estaladeira.
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CMEYN
February 20, 2016
Thanks a lot! That's right... All about this pic was to wait the right moment to click! :-)
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annetteflottwell
February 25, 2021
yes, I have seen this happen too on avocado trees in my f'garden. Or the flies came. Well composed and excellent
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This picture was taken in the garden of my parents, a preserved area of Atlantic Rainforest, near to Itatiaia National Park, Brazil.Time
In the middle of afternoon, about 3pm.Lighting
I was lucky about light, cause the action happened at the shadow side from the tree, giving a clear and soft light to the frame.Equipment
The equipment was a Canon Powershot S5 IS attached at a tripod.Inspiration
I was searching for butterflies. In this case it was really an amazing opportunity when I saw some flying around this tree and landing at the bark to try to get closer to the hole punctured by a parasite insect. A lot of tiger ants was feeding the sap flowing and attacking butterflies. I never saw this territorialist behavior from ants against butterflies, so I mounted the tripod and started recording some videoclips. How butterflies do not have stings or any defense, they basically slowly approach to try to suck a bit of sap flowing. After several attempts, when the ants seemed more satiated and outnumbered, finally this beautiful and perfect Hamadryas feronia managed to extend his shadow and collect some sap for a few seconds. I was quite excited about the whole situation, because besides being something new to me, the beauty of bark from this ironwood, full of color variations, as well as the similarity of color and patterns of the ants with butterfly wing details added a special beauty to the frame.Editing
The post process it was about to give a little more fill light, contrast, saturation and white balance correction, using Adobe Lightroom.In my camera bag
At now I like to go to the forest with two camera bodies (Canon 60D & 550D) with a Canon 50mm f2.5 Compact Macro, a sigma 70-300mm attached and a Canon 10-22mm f3.5 to landscaping shots.Feedback
Initially, to find this type of capture you must be observant. After locating, make slow and silent movements. For the photographic record itself, I prefer not to use flashlight. This choice has the advantage of offering a very close picture of the actual light conditions, but generally difficult in the final image quality. To capture this action over the bark surface, was important to use the tripod, because to use the smallest aperture available with the camera used with available light, the necessary exposure was 0.1s, which would not have been possible at handheld shooting. Also, I used the successive automatic shooting feature whenever the butterfly approached, allowing to choose the best picture.
