Dreamstime

Saturday 12 March 2016

A Mature Tawny Coster

A Matured Tawny Coster Butterfly (click to enlarge) The picture on the left was taken in the morning 2 days ago (do click to enlarge). It is a Tawny Coster butterfly. Over the last couple of days I have noticed the presence of this butterfly in my front garden. Its point of interest: my Damiana plants (it appears to be in egg laying mode). To my knowledge, its caterpillars only feed on the Damiana leaves.

This picture was taken while, as it appears to me, to be resting on a dead branch under the strong mid-morning sun. A little unusual as butterflies will only do this in the cool early mornings. It did fly away when approached but it settled down after awhile probably because it was tired after laying eggs. I think the underside of its wings looks a little worn. As a mature female butterfly, it is probably close to the end of its life-cycle.

I wonder if this is the same butterfly as the one that I observed in February 2016? I am no butterfly expert so it is hard to tell. Do they have distinguish markings or features from each other as us humans do? I wonder.

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