EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

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Hunter-MX
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EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Hunter-MX »

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Whew... So if you want to know the names, I can do my best. :crazyeyes:
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Tim Borski
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Tim Borski »

HunterMX, lot's of diversity here AND great pics! :thumb:

What's the large white Morpho-looking butterfly? I saw several of them a couple years ago near Puerto Vincente, Gerrero.

Thanks for taking the time to give us a look!

Tim
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Hunter-MX
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Hunter-MX »

Thanks Tim! Indeed, a white Morpho. Pretty common certain times of the year and definitely impressive. Nearly hand size snow white butterflies floating about.
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Tim Borski
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Tim Borski »

Thankyou. And yes, "floating about" is a good description. Please keep them coming...Gerrero is a crazy-interesting area!
Tim
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moloch
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by moloch »

Fantastic, Hunter! Looks like you have a wonderful variety of butterflies in your area. As you said before, there are number of these that look very much like species in southeast Asia. I think the most amazing similarity is with the following. Do you know its name?
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Jester (Symbrenthia hypatia)
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What baits do you use? Shrimp paste dissolved in water worked well for pierids and swallowtails. Animal excrement mixed with water and sand also was effective but for different species. Within the forest, fermenting bananas attracted a number of species. I have read that Owls will respond to this bait. I think that the Singapore guys also use cat excrement and charcoal as bait.

If you have the time, you might consider posting these to the butterflycircle forum (http://www.butterflycircle.com). Most photos on the site are from Singapore and Malaysia but it is slowing growing with a few posters from Australia, Europe, Thailand, Taiwan, China and North America. It would be great to see it grow into the "fieldherpforum" of the butterfly world. Also, some of the guys on the site take the best butterfly photos that I have seen. I have learned lots from them but have a ways to go to get up to their standard. They are all helpful with suggestions about techniques, etc.

Regards,
David
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Hunter-MX
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Hunter-MX »

Thanks Moloch. I don't use any baits. These are all just incidentals, puddlers and natural baits. I really enjoy butterflies and love shooting them but have never gotten "serious" about. When you put out a bait, how long till the action starts? How much do you put out? Is there a site that would describe all this to me?

That particular one is one of only 2 I could not ID. I think it is a Beauty or a leafwing, but nothing in my book matches exactly. There was a forum that I used to know that specialized in central and South American Butterflies. You could post on there and the hosts would ID stuff for you. I believe they either had written or were writing a book and they would sometimes ask to use pictures for the book. Anyway, I lost the site a couple of years ago and Google can't seem to bring it up. The forum was broken into countries I believe. Have you ever seen it?

Right after I posted I found it!
http://www.neotropicalbutterflies.com/phpBB3/
Now I will get a few answers!
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justinm
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by justinm »

A lot of these look like Brushfoots that I see in Illinois, and some I've gotten shots of but not as nice as yours. I'm glad you're posting again, I enjoy you're posts.
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moloch
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by moloch »

Thanks Moloch. I don't use any baits. These are all just incidentals, puddlers and natural baits. I really enjoy butterflies and love shooting them but have never gotten "serious" about. When you put out a bait, how long till the action starts? How much do you put out? Is there a site that would describe all this to me?
Puddlers are usually the best along creeks or rivers where there are open, sandy banks. Places like this were good in peninsular Malaysia and Borneo.
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Once bait, such as the shrimp paste mixture, was poured along a creek, it only took a few minutes for butterflies to arrive. This shot was taken about 20 minutes after I poured the shrimp paste mixture on the sand and on adjacent rocks. I usually put a whole packet of shrimp paste in a 1.5 l bottle, shook it well and then poured this out over several square meters. I would refill the bottle with water and do the same over several areas. After that, I would leave the baits for a half hour or so and then return to see what had arrived. When approaching the butterflies, I had the best success by crouching and slowly walking towards the butterfly flock. I would usually lay flat and crawl the last couple of meters. Some of the species are quite nervous and fly with little disturbance.
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Fermenting bananas worked well. I dropped a few in different areas within the forest. It took about 20 minutes for 4 species of butterflies to arrive. Something important is to make certain that you clear out obstructions near the bait so that you will have a clear shot of the butterflies.
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Bird droppings worked well as did pig excrement that I mixed with sand along a river:
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Unusual baits included the sweaty, smelly shoes of a kid who went for a swim and a used, discarded nappy.
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Dead animals will also attract some of the puddlers. This Chocolate Tiger was feeding on a squashed tarantula.
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Hope that helps.

Regards,
David
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KingCam
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by KingCam »

Incredible :shock: :thumb:
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Hunter-MX
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Hunter-MX »

Thanks for the tips and the shots! I thin I will give the bananas a try. The butterfly you asked about is orange mapwing, Hypanartia lethe.
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Schell
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Re: EPIC Mexican Butterfly Post...

Post by Schell »

I'd like to know what the 3rd and 4th from the bottom are... Thanks.
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