Azure Among the Raindrops

An azure butterfly steps a toe into a collection of rainwater at the tip of a peony leaf, almost lost among the reflections of drops and puddles on the leaves and flowers from a heavy overnight rain. It is so tiny it’s difficult to tell what it is when it’s fluttering around. I’m not sure which form this is exactly, but it appears to be a male spring or summer azure; I submitted it for identification with butterfliesandmoths.org. I’ve never had the chance to photograph one because they keep moving, and fast. Their top wings are bright blue which I could see when he was flouttering, but this one folded his wings when he landed, and when he left he was once again in constant motion that I couldn’t catch the color on such a dark morning.

He reflects a bit, from a slightly different angle.

And here is the peony bush he landed on, for scale. The circle is where he was when I took this reference photo, before I zoomed in, and the square is the leaf he was on when I got the closeup.

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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, visit my galleries of Photography on Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “Custom Prints” for availability and terms. I'll be more than happy to make a print for you.