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Rhetus periander periander
Riodinidae, Riodininae, Riodinini, Rhetus periander. Copalinga, 960 m, Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador
Neotropical rainforest (primary and secondary) or also cloudforest, often close to rivers or creeks. A lonely, but very nervous metalmark with fantastic blue markings. The only chance is to chase them constantly. The males are usually getting minerals on the ground for buildung sperm, that's the best chance. Usually very frustrating is the fact that these metalmarks are hiding on or under leaves in an altitude of 3 or more meters. Even with such brillant colors sometimes almost impossible the notice them.
Spotted on Dec 20, 2017
Submitted on Jan 28, 2018
22 Comments
Awesome séries Dominik,congrats on the well deserved SOTW and thanks forsharing
Beautiful series. Congratulations on SOTW bayucca!
One of the few things I remember from a freshman topology course taught by a butterfly enthusiast: The iridescence of the blue on their wings is the Schiller effect. I notice, googling it, that Schiller effect is primarily spoken of in terms of gems/minerals, but some butterflies feature it as well. I love it.
Great find, bayucca! Congrats.
Wow! Super beautiful! What a pretty butterfly! Must be a male.
Male:Small Wings
Female: big wings
Congrats bayucca on a well deserved SOTW! Your overall collection of butterflies is incredible and inspiring!
WOW! and congrats.
Congratulations! Beautiful!
Many thanks, all my friends!! Finally, after getting this catch a nice surprise!
Amazing ! Beautiful!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Dominik ! thanks for sharing this beauty with us.
Congrats.
Congratulations, my friend.
Congratulations bayucca, your Periander Metalmark has been voted Spotting of the Week:
"Look at the fantastic blue hues and black wing margins on this male Periander Metalmark, our Spotting of the Week! This butterfly belongs to the family Riodinidae, a family with a mostly neotropical distribution. An inhabitant of primary or disturbed rainforest as well as cloudforest habitats, its distribution ranges from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina. A shot like this is hard work: in the morning the males like to perch high hidden on the underside of leaves, and when later they come to the ground to seek moisture and minerals they rapidly fly off if disturbed. Patience and determination is the key for the photographer".
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Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Stunning!
Extraordinary lep and spotting.
How appropriate that this species is also known as the Blue Doctor :-)
This world's full of surprises! It's a beautiful butterfly bayucca. And to get a sense of scale there's an ant by its fore limb in photo No.2! Spotting of the month, from my side!
For real???? Gorgeous!
Photo No. 1: is a beautiful butterfly, with beautiful colors....