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The Green Dragontail Butterfly in slow motion

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This stunning slow-motion footage of the Green Dragontail Butterfly (Lamproptera meges) was filmed by insect enthusiast Kazuo Unno during a trip to northern Thailand. The Lamproptera meges dragontails are a species of swallowtail butterfly that can be found throughout Asia. Via Sydney-based Ichthyologist Yi-Kai Tea, “They are also one of the smallest Papilionids and one of the few species with wing transparency in the old world!”

unno kazuo Lamproptera meges
A bit more about Lamproptera meges on Wikipedia:

Having much smaller wing size to body length ratio, the butterflies have a whirring flight, rapidly beat their wings and dart back and forth in a manner reminiscent of dragonflies, their long tails acting as rudders. Male dragontails suck up a lot of water from which the dissolved minerals are filtered and the water squirted from the anus. While feeding they vibrate their wings rapidly but pause from time to time. Occasionally, they rest on leaves of bushes with wings outspread and stationary.

Next: Butterflies and bees drinking turtle tears in the Peruvian Amazon and Go Into the Heart of a Kaleidoscope of Monarch Butterflies.

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