The Flickr Orangeeyes Image Generatr

The leopard lacewing (Cethosia cyane) is a rather striking butterfly with this ventral side and a orange dorsal side with plack and white tips. So why is the species name "cyane" - meaning blue?

Well, it is because the white part at the front of the dorsal side of the wings will soon turn more light blue - this one has just crawled out of its chrysalis and its wings are still drying/hardening.

I like the effect captured here, due to the angle of the jumping spider's eyes. They look as if made of glass and a lovely orange colour.

Native to this country. Helpis minitabunda is commonly known as the threatening jumping spider and bronze jumping spider.

Male, 10 mm body length.

© All rights reserved.

Because the scales are yellow in color, it is not considered to be an albino snake.

Prompt: Watercolor of a beige European Burmese cat, sitting on a black pillow. The cat has a short, smooth coat and a slender build. It is looking directly at the camera with wide, alert eyes. The background is a solid dark brown color. The lighting is even and soft, with no harsh shadows. The photo has a professional aesthetic, --ar 5:4 --sw 25 --v 7

digital fine art was created using Midjourney AI v 6.1 and Photoshop

Many butterflies have differing colour schemes on the ventral and dorsal side of the wings, but the rusty-tipped edge (Siproeta epaphus) isn't one of them. Check here for an older shot shoing the underside: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53220299515/

When I purchased my (second-hand) Sigma 180 mm macro lens plus 2x teleconverter, the main idea was to be able to shoot tropical butterflies at the butterfly house using a tripod, but it turns out it can be used for other subjects as well, especially when shooting from prone.

To be fair, this poplar admiral is one of the largest species in Sweden and well inside the size range of the tropical ones.

This one kept landing quite a bit out in front of me on a logging road outside Härnösand, Sweden and each time I got close enough for a photo it took off and flew a little further up the road.

Eventually I opted for getting down on all fours and just crawl closer and finally got this shot of it with the wings down and another with them up here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54023539505/

My loving wife also snapped a shot of me concentrating on nailiong the shot and not on trying to not look like a dork here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54023764814/

Toronto Comicon 2025

Toronto,Ontario
Canada

Butterfly species really are quite fond of imitating each other.

Here I saw a bright orange and somewhat smaller butterfly with elongated wings so I immediately thought about the Julia longwing (Dryas iulia) which I had shot several times before

This however, isn't that species. Instead it is a Juno silverspot (Dione juno), also known as the juno longwing or juno heliconian.

The silverspot part of the name makes sense though - it's just that the silver spots are on the underside of the wings.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52892400368/

A shot showing the underside of the same butterfly here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52894772199/

A shot of the Julia longwing here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53896377962/

And the underside of the Julia here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51944131988/

An imposing blue dragon with scaly skin and glowing orange eyes emerges from a misty background, generated with AI

Walking back to the parking lot after a day at Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park just south of Stockholm, Sweden, I pass the ruin of the old mill which actually was in use as recent as just over a hundred years ago.

There I met a woman walking her dogs and she warned me to be careful and not step on the toads.

The way I walk when I am out with my camera is quite slow and I always scan what's in front of me in search of any cool bugs so the risk of me missing a toad wasn't very high - but the nice lady of course couldn't know that.

Either way, I soon found a whole bunch of common toads (Bufo bufo), also known as the European toad sitting on the path in front of me. I assume they were moving from where they hibernated to the Nedre Dammen pond where I had seen a whole bunch of their brethren busy with dating and amourous activity.

Since I hade the MP-E65mm on at the time, this is as far away as I was able to shoot it - but it turned out pretty neat this way as well with some nice eye detail.

Part 1 is a different specimen at the same place here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52064482076/

A 1.4:1 magnification closeup on the eye here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52113944292/

This European peacock (Aglais io) chose to land right i front of me on the gravel road at Åva-Stensjödal in the Tyresta National Park and allowed me to take several shots from various angles.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53637215132/

I quite liike this one in profile, but there is also a neat shot straight from the front here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52023062602/

For a shot of what the caterpillar looks like - here is one on my fingers: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/49519943898/

Here's a framing that came out nice. This is a malachite butterfly (Siproeta stelenes) resting on the spadix of a peace lily (Spatiphyllum wallisii) at the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna, Sweden.

Part 1 was taken from the same distance but without the 2x teleconverter so the focal length was 180 mm instead 360 mm here. www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54213907032/

For a shot showing the other side of the wings, have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52567904888/

The silver-studded leafwing (Hypna clytemnestra) is one of the butterflies which are a bit on the secretive side about showing the dorsal side of thier wings. At rest, they keep them closed - which makes sense as they rely on the camouflage pattern to keep them hidden.

This one however kinda sorta opened them just a little bit, offering us a glimpse at what the other side looks like.

From yesterday's (February 6th, 2025) visit to the Haga Ocean butterfly house, here is a red lacewing (Cethosia biblis).

This is in my opinion a very striking species, hailing from Asia and this particular one here has just crawled out of its chrysalis, unfolded its wings and was waiting for them to harden enough that it could make its first flight.

This beautifully speckled pigeon showcases nature’s artistry with a mix of white, grey, and iridescent green feathers. Captured in a moment of stillness, it gazes into the distance with an air of confidence.

This is the one of the first shots from when I tried using my Laowa 15mm f/4 Macro lens. As the "15mm" part implies this is a wide angle macro lens and I'm hoping it will offer some new views compared to normal macro lenses.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52158294196/

For two BTS shots of how insanely close you need to get to the subject, have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52158533169/ and here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52329566739/ - This is the resulting shot of that framing! Looking at the lens in that shot, I can tell that this shot was taken at f/11 and 0.4:1 magnification.

The subject here is an autumn leaf (Doleschallia bisaltide), also known as the leafwing. With the wings folded up it really look like a dead leaf, but for me, it just wanted to sit with the wings open like this.

Another close shot using a more "normal" macro lens here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52267324873/

Say "tropical butterfly" and most people will think of a brightly coloured one. Red, yellow, blue and so on.

Well, the rusty-tipped page (Siproeta epaphus), also known as the brown siproeta, is proof that it is more about style and if you got it, you can rock an outfit in more muted brown and orange and still look great, right?

Here is a somewhat disheveled beatuy known as the archduke (Lexias pardalis). And since it is a female, that would make it an archduchess, wouldn't it?

Part 1 showing only the ventral side here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54141992251/

This species has very significant sexual dimorphism, ie the male and female look different from each other. For a shot showing the dorsal side of the male, have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54103087258/ and the ventral side here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54111981059/

(The clipper (Parthenos sylvia) is a beautiful butterfly found from India in the west to the Phillipines in the east - plus in New Guinea.

The Greek word "parthenos" means "virgin" and sylvia comes from the Latin word "silva" meaning "forest".

There are a whole bunch of subspecies with variation in the colouration. Some more orange like this one and some more blue like this: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53664330691/)

Part 1 (more from the side) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53682467436/