Today, we present the lovely archduke butterfly, and check back tomorrow for the lovely female....very, very different.
You can see these as you walk in the tropical forests of Hong Kong, large, colourful, and very shy. Interesting, that despite their bright colours they blend in well with the forest floor, and the colours of the male are thought to play a role in intraspecies communication, both by signalling to other males when defending territory, and by attracting females.
You can find the bristly caterpillars on the host Calophyllum trees.
Often found on the forest floor, where they feed on the decaying fruit.
A Challenge to photograph, as they are normally found in deep shadow, and its difficult to get close. This one I shot with a 100mm, so had to crop substantially, and I used an off camera diffused flash to pick out some of the details, and give me both a hand holding shutter speed and an appropriate Depth of Field.
Tomorrow, the female.