Metalmark butterfly

This was my very final photo at this good field at the end of the oilfield track. The others had already boarded the minibus and were waiting for me but I just had to get a photo of this beauty before joining them. It looks very like one I saw previously but turns out to be a different species, so I am delighted I did wait to take the photo.

Family name: Riodinidae/Metalmarks General description: orange-brown with black markings and two narrow metallic silver-blue bands. Ventral wing surfaces as above but lighter orange. Forewing apex more rounded in females Field Marks: small; orange-brown with metallic silver-blue bands.

The Bay Area, with its microclimates and varied habitat, was home to the greatest...

Asunción, Cusco Dept., Perú; ca. 650 masl Photographed during an expedition to the Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru with the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon. Learn more about our work in the Andes-Amazon region to conserve biodiversity in the world's greatest rainforest: www.sustainableamazon.org

from Jardin Botanico Las Orquídeas in Puyo, Ecuador: www.flickr.com/andreaskay/sets/72157661122511622

Not all of the animals were created equal - some of them have a scaly skin, hard shells, and others have luscious hair. No matter, though, what sort of floof you've got going for yourself (or how much), there's always a way to work it, and that's exactly what these animals with furs so gorgeous do – their long hair makes them look fabulous, and these fluffy animals know it.