Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tailed Jay - Thalangama, Sri Lanka

Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) - Thalangama, Sri Lanka

I photographed the Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) on a couple of early morning trips to the Thalangama wetland in July. I hadn't photographed this species before and was fortunate to get quite close to it. Again, the fact that these photographs were taken in the morning helped as the butterfly wasn't very active.

More photographs after the jump.

 Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) - Thalangama, Sri Lanka

Photographing the upper sides of the Tailed Jay wasn't easy as it perched with its wings folded. The photograph above shows the widest it spread its wings while perched during these sightings. They are strong fliers and quite active. Males are said to frequent flowers from Lantana, Ixora, Mussaenda and Poinsettia.

Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) - Thalangama, Sri Lanka 

Graphium agamemnon can be found in India and Sri Lanka, through South East Asia and also in Northern Australia. Although Tailed Jays are active throughout the year, their abundance depends on the local monsoon season and the availability of host plants. They have a fast life-cycle and the time taken to grow from egg to adult is around one month. They can produce up to 7 - 8 broods per year.

These photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.


No comments:

Post a Comment