Sylphina Angel

Description:

The butterflies are rarely encountered. They fly in full sunshine but periodically rest beneath leaves. The insect shown above settled under a leaf at the edge of the Sun Gate trail at Machu Picchu. In places like this, where there is a sheer drop of a thousand m next to the trail, and just a few flimsy bushes to break your fall if you slip, photography can be a little risky! Luckily this particular insect landed in a position where there was a ledge immediately below, and photography was safe.

Habitat:

This is a cloudforest species found at altitudes between about 2000-3000 m, it is found in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.