Does this look like a Chicken?

Hi,

I have had another frustrating day and once again it has been the Common Blue Butterflies that have been the cause of it.

Now you would think that a famous naturalist like myself would know the answer to the question posed in the title above. Nevertheless I followed this little Butterfly around for two hours in the sure belief that she was about to lay an egg. (Without any real success, I should add)

It would have been a great picture.

Okay let me explain why I mistook this pretty little insect for a Chicken.

Female Common Blue Butterflies spend their days nectaring, warming up in the sun and laying eggs. The primary larval food plant is Bird’s-foot Trefoil. They seek out a plant and then lay a single egg on a leaf. This female was settling on Bird’s-foot Trefoil giving it a good investigation and then crawling onto the leaves and wiggling about some, She was also making clucking noises, I think. Then she would move on to the next flower and do the same again. It made sense to follow her.

The trouble was Bird’s-foot Trefoil is such a little plant and there was so much grass. It was just very, very hard to see exactly what was going on and to photograph it.

So you tell me what you think is going on here?

Look closely at the position of her abdomen (Tail end) and the concentration on her face.

That is a Chicken laying an egg. In my world that doesn’t cut it, you have to see the egg emerging and deposited on the leaf. So it is frustration for me but I shall try again.

Some good things came out of this.

“Wise” people often pose the question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” and they feel secure that nobody will ever be able to answer that one. I know and in nanoseconds you will too.

Did you see any Chickens in this post?

Eggs were being produced millions of years before Chickens were invented 🙂 🙂 🙂

Take care. I have a great unidentified wildflower coming up, you will have to be very clever to get this one. 🙂 (I don’t know what it is)