Thanks & Goodbye

GOLDENORFE

said the butterfly to his ant helpers, after being helped out of the ants nest and cleaned off by the ants before his first flight

shot back in june , more shots still to come

phil

Lord Vetinari

Lovely shot Phil - fascinating behaviour by the ants
Brian v.

GOLDENORFE

thanks brian, cant wait to try the 5ds hd video on these next june

kdog

Is that true? The ants help clean off the butterfly, but don't harm it? If so, that's fascinating! Great shot.

GOLDENORFE

yes, they look after the catts, feeding on honey like secretions from the caterpillers, then take them down into their nest to pupate. then help them out of the nest to emerge, cleaning off all the bits of debris
all the blue butterfly species have some kind of relationship with ants
fasinating to watch