In four previous blogs, I discussed top tips to become a good butterfly photographer: preparation, equipment, location and qualities. Today, I would like to add a fifth top tip: species knowledge.
Assuming that you would like to identify what you have photographed, basic species knowledge is essential. Everybody knows that. What I would like to highlight here is that to identify certain species, you need to combine knowledge with preparation.
Take for instance the very common Essex skipper (Thymelicus lineola). I photographed this particular specimen close to home.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM f/4 1/100 ISO 800
The Essex skipper can only be distinguished from its close relative the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) by the colour of the lower front-end of the antenna tip: black in the Essex skipper and orange in the Small skipper. The frontal shot of the Small skipper below shows that difference in colour clearly.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM f/5.6 1/500 ISO 400
This is something that you would need to know prior to going in the field. Otherwise, you may just take a photograph of the dorsal side and be unable to check the colour of the antenna tip afterwards.
Now, in Europe, there are only a handful of butterflies that require specific knowledge to differentiate two species. It gets far more difficult in the neotropics.
For example when I visited Ecuador for the first time in 2021, I took this lovely shot of a Leondonta species, a member of the Whites (Pieridae) family. As Ecuador boasts well over 3,000 species my knowledge in general prior to our trip was average and specific species knowledge was poor. It turned out that a couple of Leodonta species are very much alike or even identical from the ventral side. It never occurred to me at the time to pick this butterfly up and photograph its dorsal side. It will probably forever remain just “Leondanta sp.”.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM f/5.6 1/250 ISO 400
Another example was this Jamides species in Vietnam in 2023. There are a couple of Jamides species that show similar patterns on the ventral side. Actually, I did know that I would need a photograph of the upperside, but I simply forgot to take one. So I will probably never be able to put a name to this specimen.
Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/400 ISO 800
Of course, other than gently picking a butterfly up, there is a more subtle way to get a glimpse at the upperside: just get your camera ready in slowmotion video mode, aim it at the butterfly from a distance, disturb the butterfly and make it fly away and then grab a frame from your video showing the ventral side.
I have learned now to try and get a shot from both sides of the butterfly, unless I know for certain that I can ID it from just the ventral or dorsal side. Next time I go out to the tropics, I intend to photograph any butterfly from every possible angle as far as the circumstances allow, and learn to memory beforehand as much as possible all difficult-to-ID species. Hope to tell you later this year to what extent I succeeded!
You know, I am pretty much a zealot when it comes to butterfly photography. There have been holidays in the past where we were supposed to go hiking and I stopped every three meters for another new species of butterfly. It did wonderful things for my species list and not so wonderful things for my marriage. It took us some time to find a way to fit butterflies into our holidays that worked for both of us. As we are still happily married, I suppose we found the solution.
So, when we picked Vietnam as our next destination, I promised my wife that I would behave. In return I negotiated a couple of days in Cat Tien NP dedicated exclusively to butterflies. The park is said to sport well over 400 species. I planned to go all-out for a few days, and oh boy, I did, just not exactly entirely according to plan.
On the first day, we had booked a very-early-morning tour to see golden-cheeked gibbons first, and after a light breakfast we walked north on the single paved road. It was already 25 degrees or so and pretty humid. Left and right of the road, butterflies could be seen in the shade of the forest such as this female Catochrysops strabo:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/640 ISO 1600
When the sun truly began to shine, the temperature soared and our stomachs began to rumble, so we headed back to the park center for a lunch in the only available restaurant. Then we decided to check out the other end of the paved road going in a southwesternly direction. On that side of the park, it is more or less open country and you are mercilessly exposed to the sun. We spotted this jewel Chersonesia intermedia:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/200 ISO 200
Concluding we would be more or less cooked to death on this stretch, we walked back again to the forested stretch of road. Here I discovered Parantica aglea, which is very common in Vietnam, but capturing it in flight with its hairs sticking out of the abdomen, spreading feromones is not such a common sight:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/2500 ISO 5000
Towards the end of the afternoon, it must have been around 33 degrees Celsius or so. I was lying on my stomach fully exposed to the sun photographing blues while sweating profusely. Time to call it a day. We took the ferry back to our lodge to cool down in our room and take it easy. I had indeed gone all-out and would now face the consequences. I started to feel a bit listless, did not really fancy dinner, ate a bit just to get some food in me, and vomited everything back a few hours later. Clearly a mild sunstroke. The reprimand from my wife for pushing myself too hard did not make me feel any better as well, although she was right of course.
Now that I look back, I suffered mild sunstrokes a few times before. In France years ago, in Hungary, recently so in Ecuador, now in Vietnam. The difficult thing is that they are hard to predict. It certainly has something to do with full exposure to the sun and high temperatures, being in the field all day and having no place to cool down, getting dehydrated by prioritizing butterflies over food and water. Sometimes such circumstances do not affect me at all, sometimes they hit me. Anyway, it may sound stupid, but it is only after this occurence that I realized that I am apparently vulnerable to sunstroke and I should pay more attention to staying within my limits and learning to read the signs. It is also the first time that I got so sick: a clear warning from the body to the mind to keep a cool head.
Anyway, the next morning I thought I felt better and we entered the park, hired two bicycles and pedalled north. After 10 minutes I already felt tired and this time ratio overruled my desires (plus a stern look from my concerned wife) and I returned to the lodge. Spent the rest of the day lazily watching birds from the patio in the shade, drinking lots of fluids and….discovering spectacular Lexias albopunctata right on our doorstep! I certainly did not deserve this present but hey, I saw no reason to pass either!
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/200 ISO 2000
On day 3, everyhting was back to normal and we pedalled north again on our bicycles. One of the species that was abundant all over the place was Zizina otis that is on top of this blog.
But the truly spectacular discoveries would be saved for our 4th and final morning in the park. Again, we took bicycles to cover greater distances. It had rained heavily in the night, so at first light some butterflies were mud-puddling on the concrete.
Smartphone, courtesy of my wife
We decided to branch off on an unpaved road in riverine forest and found an amazing amount of skippers that I still have to ID, plus the first leeches. With socks soaked in our own blood, we quicky left the muddy path to return to the safety of the paved road.
The best discovery was Discophora aestheta. Despite its considerable size, it was first collected as recent as the year 2000 and described to science by Monastyrskii & Devyatkin in 2003. Wow!
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/640 ISO 640
As a farewell present, I could catch Pachliopta aristolochiae in flight while we disembarking from the ferry to return to the lodge, onwards to Ho Chi Minh City and eventually back home.
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/2500 ISO 1250
It has been a wonderful holiday, also from a butterfly perspective: I recorded 125 species with a handful of Lycaenidae and two dozen Hesperiidae still to be identified, many lifers and some very pleasing photographs. I hope I was able to share some of the admiration for the Vietnamese people and its magnificent butterfly fauna. My wife already promised me a return in twelve years time, so apparently I did behave 🙂
The darker the undergrowth the better the creatures
On the checklist of butterflies in Indo-China, I had noticed that many rare and unique species had been discovered at Dambri waterfall. As this waterfall and a good portion of undisturbed rainforest is situated halfway between Da Lat and Cat Tien NP, we decided to make a stop there.
My first impressions were that this was a bad decision. On the road to the waterfall we saw nothing but barren wasteland. When we stopped at the gate to pay the entrance fee, we noticed a big Ferris wheel in the distance and a quick glance at the map showed it was an amusement park in the best tradition. Anyway, we are not deterred easily and got out of the car, descended a hundred steps or so towards the waterfall and looked around….at the stunning scenery as you can see at the top of this blog. Even if I had not seen a single butterfly, we would have had a very pleasant afternoon.
Thankfully, butterflies were around. We crossed the river and took the path just to the left of the circular building. It was completed deserted of humans and completely full of butterflies, including some very nice lifers.
First up was this mint Ragadia crisilda:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/500 ISO 2500
As we descended, the forest got more dense and the species typical of dark undergrowth showed up. A very nice discovery was Faunis bicoloratus. The second photograph clearly shows why it is named this way.
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/200 ISO 1000Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/200 ISO 3200
The true treasure of the day was Thaumantis diores. I was already very happy to have photograped this large butterfly at all…
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/200 ISO 1250
…but the excitement increased when it started to flap its wings and a magnificent blue pattern emerged:
4K video frame grab
Again my wife was very kind to take a picture of me in action along the forest path where all the action took place.
Smartphone (courtesy of my wife)
We had a long drive ahead of us to make it to Cat Tien NP before darkness, so after an obligatory ride in the Ferris wheel and a well deserved cold soda, we hopped back into our taxi and set off. Stay tuned for some amazing butterflies in episode III!
The first leg of our holiday got off to a slow start
Way back in 2010, my wife and I travelled to Vietnam on our first major holiday overseas. We explored the north and enjoyed the country with its smiling people and stunning scenery. Vietnam is also where my butterfly photography hobby started. What better place to revisit after 12.5 years together?
After a long flight and transfer at Singapore, we landed in Da Nang and settled into our hotel in the lovely little town of Hoi An. The skies were bright blue, it was hot and we relaxed with cocktails at the bar, strolling through town and cycling along the rice paddies. Then the sky turned grey, a slight drizzle went on and on and my hope of spotting more than the occasional butterfly was quickly dashed.
In between Hoi An and the old imperial city of Hué lies Bach Ma NP. The park entrance is approximately at sea level, but the top is about 1,700 meters. There is only a single paved road. I was very much looking forward to explore the park over two days and discover nice new species at different altitudes. Again, the weather created a reality check.
When we arrived at our hotel, the same drizzle went on and one for the whole day. The next day, the rain had finally stopped, but it was still overcast. From our lakeside room, we could see the clouds rolling in and climbing up the hills of Bach Ma NP, covering it in thick clouds. No sense going. So we grabbed two bicycles and cycled to a nearby monastery instead, where at least some butterflies flew around. It was actually in the garden of the hotel, back from our exploits, when I made the first decent photograph of a butterfly since we arrived in the country, in this case Delias pasithoe.
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/500 ISO 2500
The next day, the weather had finally cleared a bit and we cycled to Bach Ma NP. Butterflies were whizzing by in every direction at first, but after two hours or so the skies became overcast again and all movement stopped. To make matters worse, for some reason or other a park ranger directed us back towards the entrance after only two kilometers or so, so that concluded that day’s butterflying for good. The best shot was this female Tanaecia julii indochinensis:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/500 ISO 1000
Here I am butterflying on the single paved road in Bach Ma NP. I asked my wife to take some pictures of me “in action” and she did a magnificent job.
Smartphone, picture courtesy of my wife
The weather pattern repeated itself in Hué: bright blue skies on the first day and turning ever worse afterwards. Our visit coincided with the beginning of the Chinese new year so we enjoyed the festive atmosphere and the fireworks. I spotted the ocaasional butterfly here and there, but only when we cycled to Tu Duc tomb in the countryside, some interesting species appeared. At nearby Bunker Hill, I finally made the first very pleasing picture with Doleschallia bisaltide posing for me from every possible angle.
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/640 ISO 800Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/640 ISO 800
It was time to say goodbye to the center of Vietnam and move south. A national flight brought us to the city of Da Lat at 1,500 meters altitude. Logically, it was a little bit cooler, so instead of cycling, we made long hikes to monasteries and waterfalls. On a day trip to the Pongour waterfall, I encountered this magnificent female Elymnias malelas:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/320 ISO 1250
We had also booked a jungle trek with overnight in a tent on a lakeside. It was a wonderful trek through beautiful scenery, and as a bonus, there were many butterflies to admire along the way. The absolute highlight was this sunbathing Kallima alicia.
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/640 ISO 800
It was even kind enough to settle on a tree so I could admire its leaf-mimicking abilities as well:
Canon RF 100-500 f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM f/7.1 1/400 ISO 25600
So, after a slow start due to a little more rain than expected, butterfly numbers were finally picking up as we moved south. The last stretch of our holiday would take us to Cat Tien NP, halfway between Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City. In our travel guide it said that the park sported some 400 butterfly species, so I had high hopes for this location. This time I would not be disappointed….
Red admiral 