Lucilia sericata (Mosca verde común)

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Eristalis tenax

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Syrphidae
Genus:	Eristalis
Subgenus:	Eoseristalis
Species:	E. tenax

Binominal name: Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus, 1758)

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Stinky Leafwing -
Historis odius (FABRICIUS, 1775)

Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - COEINI

This large ( wingspan 11cms ) and magnificent butterfly, marked on the upper surface with a broad swathe of bright orange on a black ground colour, is one of 12 species in the tribe Coeini, which also includes Baeotus, Colobura, Tigridia, Pycina and Smyrna.
There are only 2 species in the genus Historis, the other being acheronta - a smaller species which has a group of white subapical spots on each forewing, and short tails on the hindwings.
The vernacular name Stinky Leafwing, and species name odius are probably references to the odorous rotting fruits to which the butterfly is attracted.
Historis odius is a common and very widely distributed species, found from Texas to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina.

Habitats:
This species occurs in a wide variety of forested habitats, from the deciduous woodlands of Nicaragua and Guanacaste, to the wet rainforests of the Amazon basin and the premontane cloudforests of the Andes. It occurs at altitudes between sea level and about 1600m.

Lifecycle:
The eggs is pale brown, and laid singly on leaves of the foodplant Cecropia ( Moraceae ), a very common tree in disturbed habitats.
The fully grown caterpillar is chestnut brown with yellow bands around the segments, which are adorned with yellowish whorled spines. Another pair of short whorled spines emerge from the head.
The chrysalis is pinkish, and adorned with whorled spines in the abdominal segments, and bears a pair of horns on the head which are recurved and appressed to the thorax.

Adult behaviour:
This species is usually encountered singly, or more rarely in two's and three's, in glades or orchards.
The butterfly is a swift and very powerful flyer, which swoops down from it's perches high in Cecropia trees to feed at fermenting mangos, plantains and other fruits lying on the forest floor. Both sexes visit fruit, and can be easily baited with fermenting plantain pasted onto tree trunks in open glades, orchards and forest edge habitats.
Males are also attracted to damp rocky overhangs, peccary wallows and rock strewn riverbanks, where they imbibe moisture to extract dissolved minerals.
When settled the wings are held erect, but are flicked open periodically if the butterfly is nervous. The sudden display of the bright orange bands on the upperside may serve as a warning to predators - orange colouration in butterflies is often an indicator of toxic qualities. Whether odius is toxic or not remains to be analysed.

For more INFO: (Stinky Leafwing)

(MAIN PHOTO)Make: Canon
Model: Canon PowerShot SX110 IS
Software: PhotoScape
Exposure Time: 1/501
F-Stop: f/5.0
ISO Speed Ratings: 100
Focal Length: 60000/1000 mm
Date Taken: 2010-03-13 11:22
Metering Mode: Center Weighted Average
Flash: Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
File Size: 284 k

King Page Swallowtail -
Heraclides thoas (LINNAEUS, 1771)

Introduction
The family Papilionidae is comprised of about 600 species found throughout the world in almost every environment - including deserts, mountains, grasslands, tropical rainforests, temperate woodlands, meadows, marshes and coastal dunes.

There are 3 subfamilies. The Parnassiinae comprises about 50 species known as Apollos, which breed mainly in mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. The Papilioninae comprises of about 550 species of worldwide distribution, and includes the Swallowtails, Dragontails and the giant Birdwings of south-east Asia. The other subfamily Baroniinae consists of a single species Baronia brevicornis which is endemic to the mountains of western Mexico.

Heraclides thoas is distributed from Mexico to Bolivia and Argentina, and occurs as a rare stray in the southern United States. It is extremely similar in appearance to Heraclides cresphontes, and can only be distinguished from it with certainty by close examination of the abdominal tip. H. cresphontes however has a more northerly distribution being found from Canada to Colombia.

Habitats
This species is found in many different habitats including tropical rainforest, cloudforest, humid deciduous forest, orchards and suburban zones at altitudes between sea level and about 1600m.

Lifecycle
The eggs are chestnut coloured, globular and smooth in texture. They are laid singly on leaves and stems of the larval foodplants, or on nearby plants, along forest edges, roadsides and riverbanks.

The caterpillars of all Papilionidae bear tubercules when in their first instar. In some genera such as Papilio and Eurytides these are absent in the mature larva, but in others such as Troides, Battus and Parides they develop into soft fleshy knobs or hooks. Many are very colourful, with bright green bodies adorned with orange or red tubercules, while others such as Heraclides are dull in colour and similar in appearance to a bird dropping.

All Papilionidae larvae are equipped with an extrusible forked appendage called an osmaterium, which is situated behind the head. This is everted if the larva is molested, and gives off a noxious pheromone containing isobutyric acid, which is believed to be used as a defence against ants.

The larvae feed primarily on Piper, but also possibly on Zanthoxylum, Citrus and Ptelea, although larvae found on these plants are more likely to be the very closely related cresphontes.

The pupa is described by DeVries as dull brown and resembling a twig. It is attached by the cremaster and a silken girdle, in an upright position, to a stem.

Adult behaviour
Males are frequently seen on sandbanks, dry river beds, damp sunny tracks and other places where they can imbibe mineralised moisture. Sometimes they are seen singly, but more often in small group of about 4-6 amidst mixed aggregations of Pierids such as Phoebis, Aphrissa & Rhabdodryas.

Both sexes commonly visit flowers, showing a particular preference for Lantana. When feeding at flowers the forewings are constantly fluttered - a feature common to most Papilioninae wherever in the world they occur.

Copulation probably occurs in late afternoon - at Rio Frio in Venezuela I observed a copulating pair of thoas, settled with wings outspread on the foliage of a large-leaved bush just before dusk. On the same leaf were 3 other thoas, all with wings outspread and overlapping those of their neighbours.


Make: Canon
Model: Canon PowerShot SX110 IS
Software: PhotoScape
Exposure Time: 1/640
F-Stop: f/3.5
ISO Speed Ratings: 100
Focal Length: 14400/1000 mm
Date Taken: 2010-03-14 09:31
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Fill flash fired
File Size: 259 kb

For more INFO: (Heraclides thoas)