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Project Noah Nature School
Collotis pallene
This medium sized orange tip appears to be captured by a dragonfly. As several species have similar markings, one can assume the dragonfly marking spooks other insect predators.
near the baobab
There are supposedly 11 species of butterfly on the island according to the owner of the lodge
Spotted on Dec 26, 2013
Submitted on May 30, 2014
7 Comments
Karen, can't say I noticed this effect, but then I think the markings on the ones in Uganda were slightly different. The dragonfly wing part wasn't so prominent
It was pretty amazing. Had us following one for quite some time until he lighted long enough to see that it was just a single butterfly!
Truly interesting! I would love to see the double flight optical illusion!
Thank you Pam! Did yours look as if they'd been caught by a dragonfly and were fluttering helplessly? These did and you could see what looked like a shadow and what looked like the predating dragonfly. Until it lighted on a pant.
lovely Karen...
Thank you, Maria. This butterfly completely captivated us. When he flew the "dragonfly wings" seemed to flutter at a different rate. Great optical illusion in nature
Lovely series