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| Euphaedra eusemoides, butterfly in Kibale National Park, Uganda |
My
friend Karen Minkowski, truly an intrepid tourist, has spent much of
her life in the field observing wild animals. She spent several months
last year in Africa, including time in Kibale Forest National Park. In this
three part series she shares her photos and observations of some of the
wildlife there, particularly the wonderful diversity of butterflies. (Part 1, 6/29/20; Part 2, 7/6/20)
Butterfly
larvae may not be as graceful or elegant as what they eventually metamorphose
into, but I loved the variety of spikes, hairs, colors and pattern – evolutionary adaptations to warn predators to
keep away.
Richard also found insects fascinating and helped me spot them.
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| Euphaedra alacris butterfly |
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| Euphaedra alacris caterpillar (larva) |
I
could identify only the larva of Euphaedra alacris, above with feathery appendages. Above
it is the butterfly it will become.
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| Noctuid moth caterpillar that has been paratisitized by a Braconid wasp |
Here is more drama in the insect world, this time in slow motion: a Braconid
wasp has parasitized the larva (caterpillar) of a Noctuidae moth. By laying her
eggs inside the larva's body, the wasp has turned it into an unwitting host
that is supporting the developmental stages of her young. When the wasp's eggs
hatched as larvae, they fed on the host's bodily fluids until they were ready to
pupate. They then gnawed their way through the caterpillar's skin and spun
their pupae - the white appendages - on its body. The Noctuidae larva will die
before it can metamorphose into a moth, while adult Braconid wasps will emerge
from their pupae and fly away.
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Blue
Mother of Pearl (Protogoniomorpha temora aka Junonia temora). 1971
|
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Blue
Mother of Pearl (Protogoniomorpha temora aka Junonia temora). 2019
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Eventually I saw my purpley-blue butterfly. On top is the photograph I took in 1971 with a Miranda camera and either
Kodachrome II or Ektachrome film. Below it is an image of the same species
taken last year with my digital “bridge” camera, the Sony RX10v3. I often miss
the warmth and saturation of Kodachrome film, even if those long ago images
lacked the sharpness of today's digital photos.
*****
I am very grateful to Dr. David Tumusiime
and Mr. Innocent Kato for welcoming me as a volunteer at the Makerere
University Biological Field Station and for their hospitality and support during my stay
from April 9 to June 19, 2019. Many others on the MUBFS staff and in the
Kanyawara community helped me as well. I thank Nelson Guma of Uganda Wildlife Authority
for expediting permission for me to reside and work in Kibale for that
time period. It was a remarkable experience that I
will always treasure. Thanks to Dr. Freerk Molleman, who kindly made available
for download his Butterflies of Uganda: Kibale Forest (2012) and also
identified some of my photos. Likewise, Dr. Sille Holm identified several moths
and the family of a moth larva. I also consulted The Anglia Ruskin
University guide to butterflies of Kibale Forest, Uganda, by Alvin J.
Helden, Fabrizio Manco and Sophie Mowles, v.2 (2018); A Field Guide to the
Butterflies of East Africa, by John G. Williams (1969); and the internet.
Any errors in identification are my own.
