False eyespots on the underside of its wings help confuse predators.
(Click on the photo to enlarge it.)
This photograph was taken in the Rain Forest Exhibit that is at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The large “eyespots” on their wings help them avoid predators by resembling owl’s eyes. They are relatively large (2.6 – 7.9 inches) and only fly short distances at a time. They tend to fly mostly at dusk when fewer avian predators are around.
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The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/60 sec at f/5.6, ISO 800 on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.
5 Comments on “Giant Owl Butterfly”
Love this photo. Beautiful butterfly, great example of adaptation in nature.
My new favorite! Thanks!
Thanks Susan. Glad you like it. That rainforest exhibit is really great.
So beautiful and cool. Somehow seems so vulnerable.
Thanks… I was able to get up pretty close to photograph it.