Leaf

As butterflies go, this is one of the most uninteresting, colorless and boring that I have come across. It is one of the first butterflies that I see on an early safari. It rarely moves until I get too close by surprise. It soon settles down again, amongst the dirt and garbage of the ground. It seems to be too insignificant to make the effort to get really down and dirty with my chin in the mud. But, today I decided to capture the image for my own collection.

I collected quite a few interesting blip contenders today, but the more I studied this butterfly image, the more it grew on me. After a few hours of procrastinating, I finally made the decision to blip this curious butterfly. Impossible to shoot in-flight as its flight is erratic and low light. It always lands with its wings together, so I have no top view available.

I checked out a couple of good sites that rarely let me down, but no sign of this species. I tried 'leaf butterfly' in Google, again nothing, so I am left with no identification. Its strategy of insignificance even prevents the human species from chasing this specimen, a plan that works very well.

Once chin is on the ground, a very easy butterfly to shoot, as both elbows are grounded to provide good stability. The low lighting leaves no question about flash. A quick check to ensure that exposure is OK for the conditions and a few more clicks, slightly varying the position to get as much in focus as possible.

Once on the computer screen, a rather appealing, leathery leaf effect. One of natures wonders - I like it, hope you like it too.

Update identification - it is definitely a melanitis evening brown. I believe it is a melanitis phedima bela

Dave