Walking through the parking lot at work I saw what looked like a sad and dying butterfly. Well, I think it's a butterfly. Maybe it's a moth. I'm not very good at identifying insects here. Either way, I spotted what most people walked past and ignored. I pulled out my K-30 which had my D FA 50mm and promptly dropped to the ground. Ignoring the strange looks from those around me ("Oh, it's just him... never mind.") I captured this shot.


IMGP4409 by Never Off, on Flickr

He subject was a little leery of me taking his picture and kept turning away from but never flew off - not even a defensive bounce away from. Poor fella... it really did look like the end of the road for him.

This probably isn't a true macro shot. It's probably a very close focus shot. Still, I thought I would share.

[Tako Kichi]

Nice capture and he does look like he's been in the wars with his ragged wing edges and missing antenna.

For reference it is a butterfly (not sure which sort) but for general ID purposes butterflies rest with their wings raised while moths rest with their wings spread out. Their antennae are also different, butterflies have antennae which end in knobs while moths have frilly antennae that look like ferns or palm fronds.

There are a couple of exceptions to the above but for general purposes you can use that to ID butterflies from moths.

[Not a Number]

Off hand I'd guess that's a West Coast Lady butterfly.