Seasons of the adult Citrus Swallowtail.

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A Beautiful butterfly isn't he? A young Spring season "Citrus Swallowtail" that has not developed his full colors yet!

Today I will show you the seasons of this beautiful butterfly species (Papilio demodocus) in our South African garden.
They are big butterflies that flit around constantly, but every now and then they will take a brief rest and that's when I strike with my camera.
Come and look!

First up is the Spring season.

This was taken just before he flew off again.
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Here's another youngster in a more colorful setting.
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Now we move to the Summer season!

As you can see, fully developed colors here in summer.
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The Citrus Swallowtail at his best in color during this season.
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Finally, we have the Winter season!

This old soldier has fought many battles for survival.
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Strong winds whipping him around and yet he clings to life.
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There's no nectar in that flower and still; he can fly.
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A poem here to show us that we should appreciate life every short day that we have.
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From beauty to the grave, not a very nice subject here, but indeed a wake up call for all of us.
Not surprisingly, the swallowtails biggest enemy is mankind with the chemical spray in the gardens, but then they also have to dodge insect hunting birds and many other predators.
We all have to face evil some times and just like this butterfly we will get through it and wear our scars with pride.
Kindness to all others is the balm that can heal many hearts.

And That's All Friends!

Note: All photos except the cited poem are my own and taken with a Canon Powershot SX60HS. Bridge camera.

We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity

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A beautiful butterfly and the poem is even more pretty! Thank you!
!ENGAGE 10

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Wow! Great photos! This butterfly looks really perfect!

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This is a real beauty of a butterfly, Zac, and the poem tells the truth - we should appreciate every moment we have, life is too short to complain.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Thank you my friend.
There's no worth in complaining and it's a hateful habit.
Life is precious and every second must be appreciated.

Cheers and thanks!

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You're welcome, Zac :)

I think we have been talking about the moaning of the Austrian before. But that's something different, because it's "normal" that we moan and complain about everything ;) lol
Yeah, life is too short and too and we should live every second as if it was our last :)

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, just ragging you a bit my friend 😉

All that I can say about this is that I live according to two motivations in my life.
Romans 11:33-36 and the "Golden Rule" Matthew 7:12

No intention to preach here, but just my own way of life.

Cheers and thanks!

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I know the Golden Rule of Thirds in photography 🤣

... I am sure your motivations are good ones, but I have still some work to do and later I will be too tired to look it up. Maybe I have time tomorrow 🙂

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Ah yes, the thirds rule is indeed well known, but it does nothing for kindness my friend.
I am sure that you will like my rules.

Cheers and thanks!

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... and the rule of thirds belongs to the rules which I don't follow many times to get a photo which looks better, at least in my eyes.

I will have a look at your rules later.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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I am also guilty of ignoring the rules when it comes to photos Hannes.
I don't like being put into a box and use my own initiative.
What works for one doesn't work for another.

Cheers and thanks!

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Breaking the rules is also a rule in photography.
If an image doesn't suit the rule of thirds, it might suit one of the other rules. The composition is up to the photographer anyway - he is the artist.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, I think that I have no rules Hannes,

I might be at fault, but I don't know the rules and if a picture looks good to me, I post it.
Amazingly I get good responses and that's all that matters to me.
So, I think that I should name it the "Good response rule" 🤣

Cheers and thanks!

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Cool Zac, you know the most important rule - it's your photo and you are the only one who has to like it, and if other people also like the photo, it's even much better 😄

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Absolutely correct Hannes and it's the game of thirds.
A third will like it, a third will be neutral and a third will hate it 🤣

Cheers and thanks!

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True, my friend, although I would say the number of haters is much less and the number of the ones who like the photo is much higher :)

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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That's what we always pray for my friend, as you and I know that the light is so very much stronger than the dark.
I treat negative comments like dogs barking at cars and don't allow it to influence me. So, I answer with facts and then let it rest. In other cases I simply ignore them!

Cheers and thanks!

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I always try to talk and sort things out, but you are right, some of these barking dogs should better be ignored.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Yes, you are right, as some need to be discussed due to misunderstandings, but when it comes to outright disgusting comments, such as an attempt to belittle one, then it belongs in the dustbin.
People only send these kinds of comments to show how clever they are, but in the meantime they don't consider that they are in fact showing everyone how stupid they are.

Cheers and thanks!

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True, there are people who are as you say. They won't listen and would never believe that they might be wrong - the dustbin is the right places 😁

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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A human condition my friend. Some of us are so self filled with "knowledge" that we would rather die than admit that we are wrong. Our main purpose in life is to show others how "clever" we are.
Wisdom is a stranger to people like this and most often kindness is also a foreigner.

Really not worth to spend one's time on, as they will never change.

Cheers and thanks!

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There's only one name that came into my mind when I read your reply: The Dunning Kruger Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect - there are so many of them around who think wisdom has something to do with their education or their title...

The !BEER is still out I believe, but I try it anyway ;)
!invest_vote

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(Edited)

Ah, the Dunning-Kruger effect and all of its arguments for and against.
Take a stupid person and put a uniform on him. Overnight superiority complex 🤣
You and I are on the same page about this condition my friend.

Cheers and !BEER (To test if mine is still working)

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Yeah, we have been talking about these guys in uniform who are the same around the world.

Cheers and !BEER - it worked 😁🍻
!invest_vote

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Sorry, out of BEER, please retry later...

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Sorry, out of BEER, please retry later...

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Well, Matthew 7:12 is something I am living and I always tell my kids these words, although I don't live a religious life. So I can't say much about the Romans.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, we never live what we preach my friend.
Romans is my favorite book and some say that it is a bible on its own.
I try to live a religious life, but I have many faults and therefore cannot expect others to do it.
Matt. 7:12 is certainly very sound advice.

Cheers and thanks!

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Well said, my friend 👍

When I was young I read the Bible, the old and the new testament, I can't remember a lot anymore though, but I enjoyed reading. And if I read pieces of it like I did before, the words come back into my mind.
The quite thick book is still at my parents house.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hahaha, I also read the bible as very young boy at Sunday school.
Then I didn't touch a bible again until I turned 40 years old.
Since then it has become my constant companion.

I can only like your post tomorrow, as my VP is down.

Cheers and thanks!

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Sorry, out of BEER, please retry later...

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Beautiful!

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Thank you and sorry I have been a bit scarce, battling here with powercuts and terribly low signals.
Have a glass of !WINE

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Yeah, yeah, yeah..
Hahaha... I figured you will do only those in your blog!
🥰🌺🤙 !ENGAGE

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Awesome designs on their wings! It's like natural art. And each species has its own interesting individual drawings.

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Oh yes, they arec indeed intrically designed.
Glad that you like the post.

Cheers and !BEER

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Beautiful!
Butterflies are such simply stunning creatures and I wish I hadv'e had a camera when I lived up in the Daintree Rainforest with all of the gorgeous Ulysses Butterflies cause they were everywhere. https://australianbutterflies.com/the-ulysses-butterfly/

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So beautiful to see a different Swallowtail my friend. We have about 7 species of Swallowtails here across the country and here in our garden there are plenty of Citrus ones.
You were fortunate to live in that forest and your mind took the pictures of them.

Hope that your Friday is good and have some !WINE

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(Edited)

Funny I have never heard them called Swallowtails before- only Ulysses...

This is my old friend Steve's Entomological museum in the Daintree. http://www.daintreemuseum.com.au/index.htm

And this is my old Friend Dean Jewell https://www.deanjewellphotography.com.au/daintree-flora-fauna

I know you'll enjoy looking through these websites!

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Thank you kindly for the links and yes, they are named as Ulysses Swallotails.

I will have a look at the links a bit later.

https://australianbutterflies.com/the-ulysses-butterfly/#:~:text=%20%20%201%20Its%20common%20name%20is,they%20feed%20on.%20This%20provides%20excellent...%20More%20

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Ohhhhh Ulysses Swallowtails...ohhhhh...

Oh well you know how we aussies love to shorten the name of everything over here, including us...🤣

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Hahaha, yes, we do the same here in South Africa my friend and you guys are just across the pond from us.

Blessings and !WINE

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Ha ha yes so true!

Which is great, cause it'l be so much quicker to get there when the lockdown is finally over and we can travel again! 😃

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