The plant depicted here is known in the Americas as Gout Stalk or Buddha’s Belly Jatropha podagrica. A member of the Euphorbiaceae family, the plant was discovered in Guatemala and Central America in 1848 and has since been introduced throughout the tropics including Thailand where it is known as Hanuman-nang-ten. The translation literally means Royal Monkey sitting down on a backless chair. The nectar from the flowers of this very exotic plant is highly sought after by many species of butterflies, bees and wasps. In the picture, a Giant Asian Wasp Vespa mandarinia is enjoying a quick sip of nectar. Some background information on how I was able to capture this outstanding picture might be of interest to you.

During my travels in Northern Thailand, I stopped overnight in Chiang Dao, a small market town located in the mountains about 90 minutes north of Chiang Mai. I stayed in a small but lovely 3-bedroom teak house owned by a friend of mine by the name of Khun Lek. In the early morning, I decided to take some pictures of some of the beautiful flowers and plants in Lek’s Garden; I would estimate that there were at least 60 or more different species of ornamental tropical plants. During my 2-hour photo shoot, I saw numerous species of very exotic and colorful butterflies flying around her garden stopping here and there on their favorite nectar plant for a quick boost of energy. Towards the end of my photo shoot, I focused on a peculiar plant that I had seen any a number of places during my travels in Thailand; the plant had lovely red and yellow flowers, somewhat like the Asclepias Incarnata (a Milkweed species from Central America) together with green carbuncle like structures (looked like the gout on somebody’s swollen finger) and broad heart-shaped green leaves. The plant I was observing was Hanuman-nang-tan. Alas, just as I was in the process of tripping the camera shutter to take a picture, a giant wasp alights on the flower for a microsecond to sip some nectar. Click…Viola, and that is how I was able to obtain this once in a lifetime picture!

Thailand

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