Commander
09-Jan-2005, 03:47 PM
Before the rains came this morning at TBHP, a Leguminosae tree was a hive of activity with more than a dozen recently-hatched Common Grass Yellows clinging on for dear life to their pupa cases. The strong breeze must've made it quite tough for them to cling on.
Many of them must have hatched just about an hour or so before I reached the location. Their wings had fully expanded, but still appeared to be soft at they were blown in the wind.
Many other male Common Grass Yellows were flying around the newly-hatched butterflies, looking for females to mate with. I read about this in an article of the National Geographic featuring Heliconiids.
One female, just struggling to get out of her pupa case, but not quite succeeding, was set upon by a male Grass Yellow, which proceeded to mate with her. Unfortunately, in the process, her wings could not open properly and were crumpled. :confused: The poor female is unlikely to make it as her wings were totally useless for flying. :-( (See picture #2)
Lots more pupae which appeared ready to hatch. But the drizzle came quite fast, and most of the Grass Yellows beat a hasty retreat to find shelter, whilst those which just hatched stayed under the leaves of the tree.
#1 : Three Common Grass Yellows clinging on to their host plant after hatching.
#2 : Damaged female Common Grass Yellow, after being 'raped' :sweat: by a male before she could dry her wings properly. :cry:
#3 : Successfully hatched male Common Grass Yellow :cheers:
#4 : This one scurried under some leaves as it started to drizzle.
#5 : Caterpillar of the Common Grass Yellow - soon to be a fluttering butterfly. :-)
Many of them must have hatched just about an hour or so before I reached the location. Their wings had fully expanded, but still appeared to be soft at they were blown in the wind.
Many other male Common Grass Yellows were flying around the newly-hatched butterflies, looking for females to mate with. I read about this in an article of the National Geographic featuring Heliconiids.
One female, just struggling to get out of her pupa case, but not quite succeeding, was set upon by a male Grass Yellow, which proceeded to mate with her. Unfortunately, in the process, her wings could not open properly and were crumpled. :confused: The poor female is unlikely to make it as her wings were totally useless for flying. :-( (See picture #2)
Lots more pupae which appeared ready to hatch. But the drizzle came quite fast, and most of the Grass Yellows beat a hasty retreat to find shelter, whilst those which just hatched stayed under the leaves of the tree.
#1 : Three Common Grass Yellows clinging on to their host plant after hatching.
#2 : Damaged female Common Grass Yellow, after being 'raped' :sweat: by a male before she could dry her wings properly. :cry:
#3 : Successfully hatched male Common Grass Yellow :cheers:
#4 : This one scurried under some leaves as it started to drizzle.
#5 : Caterpillar of the Common Grass Yellow - soon to be a fluttering butterfly. :-)