the Varied Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), a very common but exceedingly beautiful butterfly with an incredible amount of phenotypic variation (in females) and sexual dimorphism across its wide distribution.
male Eggflies, such as this individual feeding on our marigolds, have white spots on the dorsal wing surface, surrounded by striking ultraviolet iridescence, which was an unexpected challenge to capture in a photograph! It seemed to only appear vividly enough when at a certain angle. thankfully he was too preoccupied with our flowers to mind me getting plenty of shots.
the underside of the wings are a wonderful pattern of white spots and bands, against lovely hues of brown, black and red. I hope to be able to photograph a female for comparison, before our marigolds finish flowering!
Varied Eggfly, male (Hypolimnas bolina).
