nanila: (batou: confused)
Mad Scientess ([personal profile] nanila) wrote in [community profile] common_nature2018-08-13 09:38 pm

Cabbage whites (mating?)

Male and female cabbage white. Mating?
I'm hopeful that someone with better knowledge of butterfly behaviour can tell me what's going on here. I think these two are going through a mating ritual. The female (below in this photo) is sitting quite still on the grass with her wings flat and abdomen raised perpendicular to the ground. The male was repeatedly bombarding her from above. I was trying to photograph them with quite a high shutter speed but because his "attacks" tended to buffet her, I lost focus 95% of the time. This was the best I could do. They tumbled off over a hedgerow before I could come to any certain conclusions about what was going on. So, er, are they preparing to mate? Or is something else going on?
yourlibrarian: Butterfly and Alstroemeria by yourlibrarian (NAT-ButterflyAlstroemeria-yourlibrarian)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2018-08-13 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I suspect you're right about the mating. When at a butterfly conservatory we saw this butterfly seeming to constantly dive bomb this other one and we were told it was mating behavior.

shirebound: (Default)

[personal profile] shirebound 2018-08-13 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
That's something I've never seen before. Thanks for working so hard to get that shot.
elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)

[personal profile] elainegrey 2018-08-14 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, thanks for sharing!
rattfan: (Default)

[personal profile] rattfan 2018-08-16 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Either mating or she's his ex.