Here's another one from The Florida Museum of Natural History with a D50 and 200mm micro lens. These Owl Butterflies are a bit frustrating. The top of their wings is a wonderful blue, but they almost always perch with their wings folded like this. Then, they take off and fly erratically (as butterflies do) and you can never quite get a shot of their amazing top coloration -- at least I coudln't.

I couldn't either :( and I know what you're talking about. Sometimes they stretch their wings and one gets a brief opportunity - but only once.

Then there's the kid or his mother who decides they have to pick it up for whatever satisfaction that gives them.

Same resting and flying habit as our Purple Emperor.
same top colour and almost impossible to photograph !
Do they have the same (bad) taste in food?

We brought them down with rotting rat as bait.
Had to leave it out for a few days until there was enough liquid for them to feed on.
Yep, carrion butterflies - weird eh?

Yet they also went for my Dad's jacket, considering he was an organic chemist there must have been something in his lab that was almost as attractive as the ex-rat from the biology lab.