Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Papilio palinurus

Not the most photogenic of backgrounds, but I was still lucky that this gorgeous Emerald Swallowtail landed on the window in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Taken on September 1st. "Papilio palinurus has a wingspan reaching about 8–10 centimetres (3.1–3.9 in). This species is one of the very few green butterflies, that are unusual in nature. The dorsal sides of the wings are covered by a powder of green scales and the background vary from dark greenish to black, with broad bright emerald green metallic bands. The undersides are black with orange, white and blue spots along the edges of hind wings, that show extended tails at the end. The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Caterpillars feed on plants of genus Euodia belonging to the Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family. The iridescent green sheen of the bands of this butterfly is not produced by pigments, but it is created by the microstructure of the wing scales. They refract the light and give rise to blue and yellow visible reflections, producing the perception of green colour when additively mixed." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_palinurus

My photo doesn't do justice to this absolutely gorgeous, quite large butterfly, seen in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. It stayed where it was, so I didn't get a chance to get it with a less cluttered background. Kind of neat to see in large size, if you have the time to take a peek. "The Emerald Swallowtail (Papilio palinurus) is a butterfly found primarily in South East Asia and is one of the very few green butterflies around. It is also referred to as Emerald Peacock or Green-banded Peacock Swallowtail. There are several subspecies (from Burma, Borneo, Indonesis, Nias and the Philippines)." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Swallowtail After a long morning walk at Carburn Park today, I called in to see "my" owls and then took just a short walk and found another pair of Great Horned Owls that I had heard about. Saw two adults, but no sign of any young ones. Have a botanizing walk all evening, so once again I'm getting little time here on Flickr.