Danaus gilippus

I haven't done much photography of late, other than assisting The Wife on a number of shoots, but serendipity met happenstance and all that on Sunday. I was walking with Bug along a country lane outside of Bastrop when this colorful little fellow caught our attention. We watched it for a while, then continued our walk. I returned shortly with my camera and makeshift macro setup, and went about trying to capture this spectacular little caterpillar.



The results were better than I expected. In fact, I feel this is probably my single best effort at macro photography, and the attractive colors come dangerously close to "fine art" territory. So I committed a bit of composition in Photoshop, and the result is the high-faluting triptych above (click for a larger version).

For the curious and entomologically inclined, the caterpillar is that of the danaus gilippus species, better known as the Queen butterfly. They're closest relatives are the more famous Monarchs. I've never seen one before, and from the maroon and gold coloration, I'd assumed it was the larval form of a Texas State Bobcat...

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