Whoever gave this butterfly—common throughout much of Asia—its English name must have had a sense of humour. Lepidoptery was in the past a favoured pastime of members of the clergy and the embarassment of having to say or write the name must caused a shudder to those narrow-minded nonconformists who reserved the title for 'fallen' women or even those spotted in the street wearing lipstick. The strictures of the clergy were adopted by the 'respectable' man in the street. Indeed, fathers of my mother's generation were adamant that their daughters were not going out in the street wearing make up, 'like a painted jezebal'.
This Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete) sat still long enough to be photographed by AJP north of Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong last week.
No comments:
Post a Comment