Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Malachite

This photo was taken at the Calgary Zoo yesterday, 29 September 2015. The ENMAX Conservatory butterfly house display is coming to an end. The beautiful tropical plants are beginning to fade and the number of butterfly species seems to be down. I noticed this beautiful Malachite butterfly, freshly emerged, inside the display case where various chrysalises were hanging. www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Siproeta-stelenes I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway.

This is a photo from my archives, taken in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo on 9 April 2013. There were very few butterflies in April, but over the following months till around September/October, numbers increased and the tropical plants grew much larger, and it once again became a hot, humid, tropical paradise : ) I'm not sure, but I think the plant in this photos is Duranta (repens?). This year, 2015, I think the Zoo obtained butterfly pupae around mid-April, so about two weeks ago. I haven't been to the Zoo for months, so even if it's still a bit soon to see a good variety of butterfly species, I really should get over there before too long. Part of the trouble is that one of my favourite places to go is Frank Lake, which takes about the same amount of time to drive to as to drive over to the Zoo. www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Siproeta-stelenes

A photo of a gorgeous Malachite butterfly, taken in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo way back on 26 September 2011. This comparatively new building was under water after the severe Flood of the Century, that started just over two weeks ago. Not sure when it's likely to be reopened. At the very end of July, the Zoo will be opening just the north part of the Zoo, which is built on the edge of the river. The main part of the Zoo is built on an island in the middle of the Bow River, and has suffered tremendous damage, and so will take much longer to get ready to open for visitors. "The Calgary Zoo is laying off nearly 300 people in the wake of the flooding that caused $50 million in damage to the non-profit." From CBC News. One happy thing, though, is that, after being rescued from the flood, a Meerkat at the Zoo gave birth to five babies : )

One of the tropical butterflies photographed at the Calgary Zoo during their butterfly season, on 26th September 2011. Hope I've identified this correctly. I just have to add this link (hours later) from YouTube - someone (Kelly-Sue) had posted the link on Facebook. It is a video of a little two-year old boy playing drums - and I mean PLAYING! Fascinating to watch his face while he tries different things. He's mighty GOOD! youtu.be/d_AX0JTogjM

I don't seem to get many chances to photograph one of these beautiful lime green and chocolate brown Malachite butterflies, seen in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo, so wanted to add this to my set even though I'm not particularly happy with the shot : )

These Malachite butterflies in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo are just so beautiful, both the underside and the topside. Have to get ready soon to go off to do our Snake Monitoring and after that, must decide where to go. Just too many places and things to check out, sometimes I find it SO hard to choose : ) So often, it's the weather that helps with that decision, of course. "Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite, is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly's wings. The wingspread is typically between 8.5 and 10 cm (3.3 and 3.9 in). The malachite is found throughout Central and northern South America, where it is one of the most common butterfly species. Its distribution extends as far north as southern Texas and the tip of Florida, to Cuba, as subspecies S. s. insularis (Holland, 1916), and south to Brazil. Adults feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, dead animals, and bat dung. Females lay eggs on the new leaves of plants in the Acanthaceae family, especially ruellia. The larvae are horned, spiny black caterpillars with red markings." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siproeta_stelenes

This gorgeous Malachite butterfly at the Calgary Zoo took my breath away when I first caught sight of it. While far less colourful, the pattern on the underside of the wings is beautiful, too. "Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite, is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly's wings. The wingspread is typically between 8.5 and 10 cm (3.3 and 3.9 in). The malachite is found throughout Central and northern South America, where it is one of the most common butterfly species. Its distribution extends as far north as southern Texas and the tip of Florida, to Cuba, as subspecies S. s. insularis (Holland, 1916), and south to Brazil. Adults feed on flower nectar, rotting fruit, dead animals, and bat dung. Females lay eggs on the new leaves of plants in the Acanthaceae family, especially ruellia. The larvae are horned, spiny black caterpillars with red markings." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siproeta_stelenes Was out all morning, east of the city, and was happy to see my first Black-necked Stilt of the year - also Avocet, Gadwall, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and so on. We were lucky to see the rare, recently reported, Common Teal/Eurasian Teal. It was very distant, at first swimming away from us, and then in flight. Better to have seen this distant, almost-silhouette bird, than not at all, LOL. No chance for photos this morning - all birds were much too far away. Gorgeous day, though. Crazy Calgary weather - supposed to get up to 20C today and even 23C on Tuesday (I think). Later: yay!!! Got home a short while ago after calling in at the Fish Creek Park Open House and then driving west a short way and managing to find the Mountain Bluebird that had been reported within city limits. I had tried twice before, without luck - so, third time lucky!.