This is Daphnis nerii or the Oleander Hawkmoth. Not quite as rare as hen's teeth but not far off. :biggrin: :biggrin:
These is the first ones I have had since 1983 and I was delighted to get them as pupae again from Germany on Friday 11th.May. Since then 6 have hatched. 5 males and 1 female with 4 more to come.
I am also going to show you the pitfalls of trying to photograph this moth. Normally one tries to use bright sunlight so as to get a maximum depth of field and nice bright colours. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
With this moth,you have to use spot metering over the white-pink and purple and then store that reading, rearrange the image in the viewfinder and take the picture in dull light or shadow.
When I first had them in 1981 I was tearing my hair out, :Shocked: as every transparency came back from Kodak overexposed. It was not until 1982 that I got it right, and that was by accident. I took a picture on a dull day and eureka there it was in all its' glory.:biggrin: :biggrin:
So let this was a lesson well learnt, as most photographs you see of this moth do not show you its' true colours and subtle shading of green that it uses to camouflage itself while at rest.
This one is what you get when you get it wrong. It is a male, and you can tell this by virtue of the fact that it has 3 spots on the body. Females only have 2 spots. There are none are on the tip of the body. See image 3.
The correct exposure of the same moth.
This is a female taken this morning. No spot on tip of tail.
Enjoy Bob F.
These is the first ones I have had since 1983 and I was delighted to get them as pupae again from Germany on Friday 11th.May. Since then 6 have hatched. 5 males and 1 female with 4 more to come.
I am also going to show you the pitfalls of trying to photograph this moth. Normally one tries to use bright sunlight so as to get a maximum depth of field and nice bright colours. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
With this moth,you have to use spot metering over the white-pink and purple and then store that reading, rearrange the image in the viewfinder and take the picture in dull light or shadow.
When I first had them in 1981 I was tearing my hair out, :Shocked:
as every transparency came back from Kodak overexposed. It was not until 1982 that I got it right, and that was by accident. I took a picture on a dull day and eureka there it was in all its' glory.:biggrin: :biggrin: So let this was a lesson well learnt, as most photographs you see of this moth do not show you its' true colours and subtle shading of green that it uses to camouflage itself while at rest.
This one is what you get when you get it wrong. It is a male, and you can tell this by virtue of the fact that it has 3 spots on the body. Females only have 2 spots. There are none are on the tip of the body. See image 3.
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The correct exposure of the same moth.
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This is a female taken this morning. No spot on tip of tail.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Enjoy Bob F.
