The first Elephant of the season

grebeman

Old Codgers Group
Ok, so it's not got big floppy ears and a trunk, sorry to disappoint, it's an Elephant Hawk Moth and you won't get fresher than this, it emerged from the pupa in my kitchen this morning where it has been all winter less than 2 hours before this photograph was taken (sadly missed its emergence).

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Panasonic G1 with 45mm Panasonic Leica f'2.8 @ f/7.1, 1/500 sec, iso 200

Barrie
 
Incredible, Barrie! It's true...I thought someone really had seen their first elephant of the season.:D These colors will certainly allow this elephant to hide out amongst the flowers and new growth of spring. How long to these moths live, Barrie?
 
BBW, the paradox with these beautiful moths is that the longest phase of their life cycle is when they are a pupa, perhaps 8 or 9 months in that phase. As an adult it might live 5-6 weeks. It's sole purpose is to reproduce which it does within the first few days of emerging from the pupa, once that is done its purpose is over and it no longer matters to the species as a whole if that individual survives a long time. A female hatches with eggs already formed in her body and has no means of producing any more, so once they are all fertilised and laid she has fulfilled her role. We of course see this as the most beautiful phase of the life cycle, to the insect a means to an end.

Barrie
 
I really had no idea about the full details of the life cycle, thank you, Barrie. At the very least, from our perspective, they go out in a blaze of glory.

My naturalist pal will love to see these pictures. Barrie have you ever considered or do you have a hosting site where one might be able to look at your photographs en masse, collections or in sets? It sure would be great for your viewers.
 
I understand, Barrie. I know we have one member here who frequently visits but feels it's not correct for him to post his photographs here...yet, I've explained that is one of the reasons behind having a forum such as Serious Compacts - to share our love of photographs, as well as to learn from each other, etc., and I know he has a hosting site that is open to the public. So, it's different for each of us.

From a strictly selfish point of view, I'd love to be able to see your pictures besides seeing them in threads. Most of these sites, such as Flickr, have some good options that allow the user to control what photographs are strictly private, which can be viewed by "contacts" or "friends" or "family"...all of which one sets themselves. For example, on Flickr...if I have allowed photos to be viewed by all and someone wants to make me a "contact" that means they want to be able to find my Flickr stream again and/or are interested in knowing when I upload something new... One can get alerts, etc. However, it is up to me as to whether or not I wish to "make" this person a contact and at what level. At first it sounds daunting, but really it's not. There are ways to organize photos into sets and collections...which for your work, I'd think would be very helpful. Believe me, if I who barely has a "left brain" can figure it out - anyone can. Absolutely no pressure on this, merely an overview of how these sorts of places work, Barrie.
 
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