Spangle

This beautiful dark butterfly loves the sage and the jasmine flowers. It is friendly enough as long as I don't have a camera in my hand. I have been trying not to "stalk" it since summer began. The side view drinking sage nectar was shot in the evening several weeks ago. The hovering wings are in constant motion, hence the blur. Early this morning, the Spangle (Papilio protenor demetrius) was lounging motionless in the Rose of Sharon tree, so I got a still shot, though not perfect, as the shadows and dark wing colors were difficult for me and the lens to resolve.
Demetrius is the Japanese subspecies of the Spangle, which ranges across China to the Himalayas. Demetrius' range is mostly in southern areas of Japan, however, in the past few years it has moved north, and has taken up an abode here, on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Many years ago I saw myriad Spangles flying above the jungle canopy on Iriomote Island, (East China Sea) along with the Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon)(actually not so common, as it ranges in the tropical areas of Japan and Korea) and the Indian Fritillary (Argyreus hyperbius a.k.a Painted Lady.)

Now I can see all three species in my garden outside of Tokyo. Someday I may actually be able to get photos of them all.
Yesterday afternoon the Indian Fritillary was chasing the Spangle around the garden in what looked like some kind of territorial squabble. I hope the Fritillary takes some time out to pollinate the bitter melon!

Waiting for the bitter melon

The tiny baby bitter melon, native to more southern climes, has gotten a very late start this year.  It needs to grow fast, while the summer heat lasts. The fruit will end up looking really lumpy and strange, but it's such great summer food, refreshingly bitter and medicinally cooling to the system. Hurry up and grow!
It is hard to imagine that the delicate stem of the flower will soon hold the weight of a zucchini-sized fruit.

The smaller pollinating bees are scarce this year. I am hoping that the Painted Lady butterfly, also a southerner from Okinawa, will emerge from the pupae stage soon. 
There are a few bumblebees who visit the garden, but they are mostly interested in the sage flowers. Black Swallowtails visit daily, but drink mostly jasmine nectar with a touch of sage for desert.
Who is going to pollinate the bitter melon flowers?

At Last a Butterfly

When I first got my camera I thought it would be really easy to take a photo of a butterfly. I was wrong.  Seemingly photogenic and benign, butterflies are very sensitive to the presence of the hunter, and when approached will often gracefully flit away, leaving the hopeful photographer earthbound and photoless. The photographer of Not as the Crow Flies gave me some good advice, to get to know their habits, where they like to hang out. She told me to try to seem less like a predator, and more like someone who was gently in tune with her surroundings.

It took me over a year of following butterflies around the garden to no avail before one would let me approach and point a camera at it. The photos I got are of a Regular Swallowtail butterfly (regular is what the Japanese call it, I happen to think it's pretty spectacular) with the Latin nomenclature of Papilio xuthus. They look like regular photo shots, too, and you wouldn't know that I braved death to get my first shots of a butterfly.
This is the story you don't see: A convergence of pathways had put the butterfly, me, and a thirsty killer bee all in the same place at the same time. The butterfly was tentatively perched on an iris leaf, I was trying to approach as a person gently in tune with her surroundings, and a large killer bee, who was getting territorial over the water urn around which all this was happening, was divebombing my head and back with loud angry buzzes, and buzzing the butterfly to boot.
Normally I would back off right away and let the bee have the territory. The bee knows this very well, being a regular visitor to the garden and having successfully routed me countless times. ( I am probably not going to photograph the killer bee, by the way.)
But in that moment, hunched over the water urn, I could feel at last the magical connection happening with the butterfly, and I found myself very forcefully telling the killer bee to get out of the picture.  Amazingly, it left in a huff and stayed away for almost two days. That, I guess, is how you have to deal with a killer bee who won't let you commune with a butterfly.

The Bamboo Partridges

The male.

And the female.

Photos for the last two entries.

A Painted Lady Larva dining on violet leaves. These butterflies first showed up in the area last summer. They were native to more southern climes, but as the Kanto Plain is becoming more tropical than temperate, we are seeing many tropical butterflies during the summer months.

Sunday

Yesterday I found Painted Lady(argyreus hyperblus) larvae eating the violets behind the house.
The Black Swallowtails are still feeding on the jasmine, and the regular Swallotail (white with black stripes) is still flitting among the trees.
Of course the cabbage butterflies are trying to lay eggs on the herbs....

Today's Visitors

Strange clucking sounds and the rustle of underbrush alerted me to a new visitor. Just a tad larger than a partridge dove, with longer feathers and a darker eye, the bamboo partridge pair seemed unafraid of me and the camera. Welcome to the garden, new friends.