Perspective: Seeing Eye to Eye with a Butterfly.

Perhaps you’ve often wondered what a butterfly’s eyes are like.

Or, then again, perhaps you know already, or perhaps you’ve never really given it much thought.

For both the curious and the not-so-curious, and those who “frankly my dear, don’t give a damn”, this picture I took yesterday will give you some idea :

So now you know!

Images ©Helen Bushe

Fuji X-T3 with 80mm Macro lens.

f18 ISO 1250 1/480sec

Whilst I was taking this picture, the butterfly was cleaning its long tongue. They do this by extending the tongue to its full length and then scraping the groove down the middle of it with their foot (or whatever you call the pointy tapered end of its leg). Then it curls the tongue back up into its mouth, as you can see in the second picture.

At least I think that’s what they do. I’ve watched a lot of them doing this.

I’m never totally sure whether its the front legs cleaning the tongue or the tongue cleaning the legs. I must email Butterfly Conservation with this seemingly imponderable question.

When I see them doing this, I’m always reminded of a cat grooming itself.

Thank you for visiting me at PHOTOPHILE

This is the penultimate day of Becky’s Squares Challenge for July.

You have one day left to participate!

(I wonder what Becky will come up with for her next squares challenge)