Sunday 21 August 2022

Butterflies of Gopeng - July 2022

Here are a few more butterflies from Gopeng. Apparently this place has lost a bit of its famous charm for butterflies as reported by some butterfly spotters. Nevertheless in this trip I have managed to spot a few interesting and super rare ones.

Grand Imperial (Neocheritra amrita amrita)

Just managed to get only one shot of this rare butterfly and luckily it counts.




Banded Marquis 

(Bassarona teuta goodrichi) / (Bassarona teuta rayana)

This is another rare butterfly it seems.



It was quite skittish initially as it flew off when I approached closer. Luckily it came back but at a different spot.



A beautiful butterfly despite its plain black and white tones.



Red Imperial (Suasa lisides suessa)

This is a small and super rare butterfly.  It is so tiny (about 1.1cm) that by camera took some time to focus.



Common Albatross (Appias albina)

Not a rare species but probably just moderately common in this region.



According to stories from the Temian tribe, if this butterfly visits your home, it's a sign of good luck.



Burmese Cerulean (Jamides philatus)

Always a beauty to shoot.



Black Prince (Rohana parisatis siamensis)




Looks like this "Prince" is more common at this location.


 

Ape Fly (Spalgis epius

Apparently the name was derived from its caterpillars which have similar features of an ape. Looks like this one was trying to negotiate some business matters with some ants. This is not a common butterfly.



This could be a Bright Orange Palm Dart (Telicota augias)



Its orange colour is very intense.



I will placed this skipper as just moderately common.



Centaur Oakblue (Arhopala centaurus)

Probably the most common species amongst all the Arhopalas.



There are several subspecies of Allotinus in this region.

This one above is most likely the more common Lesser Darkwing (Allotinus unicolor)



The one below here could be a Rounded Darkwing (Allotinus corbeti)

Both of them are small butterflies.


THAT'S ALL FROM GOPENG ! 

HOPEFULLY I CAN GET MORE RARE BUTTERFLIES IN MY NEXT VISIT OVER THERE.






Tuesday 16 August 2022

Butterflies in July - 2nd Half

 Here are a few more butterflies seen in the month of July 2022.

Brown-banded Ringlet / Striped Ringlet

(Ragadia makuta siponta)




Darkie Plushblue - Flos anniella anniella



Shinning Plushblue (Flos fulgida singhapura)




Common Disc Oakblue (Arhopala epimuta epiala)




Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora)




Common Line Blue (Prosotas nora superdates)



Whitespot Palmer (Eetion elia)




Dark Banded Ace (Halpe ormenes)





Plain Banded Awl (Hasora vitta vitta)






Indian Palm BobSuastus gremius gremius





Some of the above species are quite uncommon. Here are the more common ones. 


Spotted Plum Judy (Abisara geza) - male


Harlequin


They are only common in the forested areas. This one looks like a male.




This one looks like a female.



Looks like their uppersides have no colors at all.



Common Three Ring (Ypthima pandocus corticaria) - underside view



Common Three Ring (Ypthima pandocus corticaria) - upperside view




Branded Imperial - Eooxylides tharis




Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis)




Malayan Pied Blue - Megisba malaya sikima




Chocolate Royal - Remelena jangala




                                    Here are a few butterflies for comparison and knowledge                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Little Maplet                                              Wavy Maplet                       

                              Chersonesia peraka peraka                      Chersonesia intermedia intermedia                       
                            Slightly larger and less orangey            Slightly smaller and more orangey                            

 

                                                         
               Bright Red Velvet Bob                            Changeable / Narrow-banded Bob
                          (Koruthaialos sindu sindu)                                (Koruthaialos rubecula)



Here is something very unique ! When I first saw it flying I thought I am seeing a new 'species'

It flew gently around like the above Tirumala. I saw it around 8.30am and by 9.00am when the sun is up, it is already gone into the deeper jungle.



After a couple of flights it decided to land for a sip of rain water.



When I look closely at its antenna, it dawn to me that it was a moth instead.

Later I found out (from some moth experts) that was a day-flying Pompelon Marginata Moth



WHAT A MOTH TO END THE JULY BUTTERFLIES SEGMENT!


Monday 8 August 2022

A day with the Euploea and Ideopsis

Sometime in July this year, I came across a bunch of Leea Indica plants which are blooming at a location in Penang. From a few plants alone, its flowers attracted many species of butterflies. Majority of them were from the Euploea and Ideopsis species. 

One of the pretties of them all is the male Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber)



Here is the underside of the male Striped Blue Crow.

Nothing spectacular - its underside.



The female Striped Blue Crow is equally stunning.




The female Striped Blue Crow is slightly larger than the male.

But the underside of the female Striped Blue Crow is really nice.





There is only one female.





It would 'hop' from one plant to the other.



Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber) - Female

Some females do not have the bright bluish colour on their forewings.



This one only show a tinge of blue at its forewings.





Here are a few more different Euploea seen.


 Euploea crameri bremeri (Spotted Black Crow)





 Euploea crameri bremeri (Spotted Black Crow)




Now who could this be ?

It should be another male Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber).




The next Euploea should be quite interesting

It's a Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii erichsonii)



To ensure my identification of the species, here are a few more of its photos.

Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii erichsonii)





Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii erichsonii)





This could be a male due to its darker colored wing.




These next butterflies are the more common Ideopsis.

Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis persimilis)

Probably the least common among the Ideopsis.







Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis persimilis)





Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina)

This sub-species is a bit smaller than I. similis)




Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina)





Here is something different to add to the mix.

Parantica agleoides agleoides (Dark Glass Tiger)




Parantica agleoides agleoides (Dark Glass Tiger)




                         Dark Glassy Tiger (Female)                           Blue Glassy Tiger (Female)





Blue Glassy Tiger (Male)




Here are some mix bunch.
  Dark Glassy Tiger Parantica agleoides agleoides &  Euploea crameri bremeri (Spotted Black Crow)

                                                  



                      Spotted Black Crow and  Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis)
                                                   



All in-one

From left: E. crameri bremeri; E. mulciber mulciber; Ideopsis vulgaris and Ideopsis similis
   



Here are a few other butterfly species which join them.

Large Snow Flat (Tagiades gana gana)





Pelopidas conjunctus (Conjoined Swift) and a Pothantus 





Colonel - Pandita sinope sinope (now is an Athyma sinope sinope ?)




Colonel - Athyma sinope sinope



THAT'S ALL FROM THE IDEOPSIS AND EUPLOEA !






Butterflies in February 2024

There were a quite a number of females seen in February which means that if they start laying eggs now, their new broth can emerge sometime ...