３６４２種の目録作成に貢献　コロンビアでチョウの撮影続ける男性

【ハルディンＡＦＰ＝時事】３０００種以上のチョウが生息する南米コロンビアで、その撮影に情熱を傾ける男性がいる。（写真は南米コロンビア・アンティオキア州ハルディンで撮影されたアデルファコルキラとアデルファアララ）
　農学者のフアン・ギジェルモ・ハラミージョ氏（６５）はかつて動物用飼料の事業を営みながら、バードウオッチャーとして鳥の写真を撮影していた。
　だが数年前、ハラミージョ氏はまるでさなぎから成虫に姿を変えるように新たな世界を切り開き、今ではコロンビアのチョウを知る第一人者と目されている。
　鳥を撮影する傍らでチョウの写真を撮ったハラミージョ氏は、その色や形に驚嘆。それを機に目の前に広大なチョウの世界が広がった。
　観察した鳥の目録を編さんしたことがあったハラミージョ氏は、今度はチョウの目録に着手した。共同作成者となった「コロンビアのチョウリスト」は、世界最多のチョウのコレクションを所蔵する英自然史博物館で今年６月に公開された。
　この目録によって、コロンビアに生息しているチョウの種は世界で最も多様であることが知られるようになった。
　地球上の昆虫の中でチョウとガは、甲虫（こうちゅう）類に次いで種類が多く、約１６万種が知られている。
　ハラミージョ氏らの目録にはコロンビアのチョウ３６４２種が掲載されており、これは世界で知られているチョウの１９．４％に当たる。
　北西部アンティオキア州在住のハラミージョ氏は、これまでにチョウ１５００種、２２万枚の写真を撮影した。自分はチョウを殺して箱の中に収める収集家ではないとハラミージョ氏は強調する。
　仕事を引退したハラミージョ氏は所有する農場に近い静かな道路に立ち、日が昇り暖まった空気に乗ってチョウが舞い始める時が、撮影にうってつけなのだと語った。
　しかし日が暮れてもハラミージョ氏の作業は終わらない。夜はガを撮影するのだ。「チョウとガ。この人生だけではなく、さらに１０回分の人生はやることがある」と話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/04-10:25）

Like the more than 3,000 species of butterflies in Colombia, agronomist Juan Guillermo Jaramillo underwent his own metamorphosis several years ago, as his passion for photographing nature took an unexpected twist.
The 65-year-old, who used to run an animal feed business, originally took photographs of birds, but he is now a key figure in the world of Colombian butterflies.
Jaramillo is the co-author of an inventory that led to Colombia being recognized as having the widest variety of butterfly species in the world.
The list he worked on was published in the British Natural History Museum in London -- which has the world's largest collection of butterflies -- in June.
The Checklist of Colombian Butterflies identifies 3,642 different species in the Andean country, which makes up 19.4 percent of the known global varieties.
But Jaramillo is keen to point out he is not a collector.
I broke from the traditional image associated with butterflies of collectors that kill them, put them in an envelop and then pin them to the inside of a box, Jaramillo told AFP.
I'm simply not capable of killing them.
Like bees, butterflies are pollinators vital to the ecosystem. They are also an important source of food for birds and snakes.
Yet their habitats are under threat from deforestation, agriculture and global warming.
Jaramillo, who lives in the southwestern Antioquia department, has an archive of 220,000 photos of butterflies and has captured images of 1,500 different species.
- Tricking the butterflies -
Jaramillo has spent the last 15 years trekking through jungles and woodlands in search of the winged jewels -- a dangerous pastime given those areas are infested with armed groups and drug traffickers.
The signing of an historic 2016 peace accord between the government and the marxist guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after more than half a century of armed conflict sparked hope areas previously off limits would become safe for scientists and naturalists.
But it was not long before armed rebels and drug-traffickers returned.
I want to go to many places but there are some I don't go to out of fear, said Jaramillo.
When he does venture out, Jaramillo takes with him a camera, tripod and a container of pink liquid he prepares every morning: shrimp bait.
Having tried various other types of bait, he found shrimp worked best.
He spreads the foul-smelling bait on rocks and leaves by a rushing stream, and even lays out cotton balls soaked in the liquid.
That's how I make them think it's bird droppings, he explained.
When the butterflies land on a leaf they stay there for quite some time... they're almost like models, he added.
Without the bait, it would be impossible to see certain species in the woodland because they live in very tall trees.
Another potential barrier is the weather.
If there's no sun, there are no butterflies.
- Some like it hot -
Jaramillo used to be a bird watcher and also compiled an inventory of the species he observed.
Colombia boasts the widest varieties of bird species and orchids, according to the United Nations's Convention on Biological Diversity.
It was the switch from film to digital photography that sparked Jaramillo's conversion to butterflies.
Taking a good photo of birds is very difficult because you need very big, heavy lens.
While filming birds, he also took photos of butterflies and was amazed by their colors and shapes.
It opened up a vast world to Jaramillo. After beetles, butterflies and moths are the most numerous insect on the planet with almost 160,000 described species.
In Colombia, I think there are about twice as many species of butterflies as birds, American Kim Garwood, Jaramillo's fellow inventory author, told AFP.
In the Andes I have been told there are about 10-15 percent of the butterfly species that are undescribed. We have many photos of undescribed species.
Near his farm on a road with little traffic, Jaramillo, who is retired, says he is in the perfect place to photograph butterflies when the sun rises and the day's warm air helps them stay aloft.
But Jaramillo's work doesn't end with sunset, as at nightfall, he turns his lens onto moths.
With butterflies and moths, I have work for this lifetime and 10 more, he said.