Not always the plant in focus - Saxifraga cespitosa

Submitted by Hoy on

I was looking for plants when I came upon a school of butterflies (Can you say "...school of butterflies"?). It was the common "blåvinge" ("blue-wing" (Polyommatus icarus) as we call it here) and some of them sat here by the saxifrage, to rest?

Edit correction: Fjellblåvinge (Albulina orbitulus)

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Comments

Submitted by Boland on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 05:07

We have spring and summer azure butterflies which are very similar but I have never seen them in a group like yours!  Great photo!

Submitted by Lori S. on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 09:14

Here, the city is very poor for butterflies and moths, but the nearby mountains are much, much better.  We often see small gatherings of similar looking blue butterflies (I'm not up on Lepidoptera IDs) in the mountains - sadly, my photographic abilities aren't up to getting good pictures, like yours!  Sometimes, we see them dancing around over and apparently feeding on charcoal from old bonfires, horse dung, and damp spots along the trail - getting some kind of nutrients or minerals, I suppose.

Submitted by Hoy on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 14:28

Skulski wrote:

Here, the city is very poor for butterflies and moths, but the nearby mountains are much, much better.  We often see small gatherings of similar looking blue butterflies (I'm not up on Lepidoptera IDs) in the mountains - sadly, my photographic abilities aren't up to getting good pictures, like yours!  Sometimes, we see them dancing around over and apparently feeding on charcoal from old bonfires, horse dung, and damp spots along the trail - getting some kind of nutrients or minerals, I suppose.

.....getting good pictures! My camera and I do not always agree about what to focus on. This was just good luck!
What do you call a gathering of butterflies? A school of, a hoard of, a herd of or what?  - I think they licked mineral water here.

Submitted by Booker on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 15:08

Hoy wrote:

Skulski wrote:

Here, the city is very poor for butterflies and moths, but the nearby mountains are much, much better.  We often see small gatherings of similar looking blue butterflies (I'm not up on Lepidoptera IDs) in the mountains - sadly, my photographic abilities aren't up to getting good pictures, like yours!  Sometimes, we see them dancing around over and apparently feeding on charcoal from old bonfires, horse dung, and damp spots along the trail - getting some kind of nutrients or minerals, I suppose.

What do you call a gathering of butterflies? A school of, a hoard of, a herd of or what?  - I think they licked mineral water here.

A flutter?  :D