Butterflies in March 2023 - some comparisons and super rare ones.

March 2023 has been another exciting month for me. There were a few very rare butterflies and uncommon ones seen. Here are some of them.

Yellow Flat (Moorena trichoneura trichoneura)

It just allowed me three shots before it flew away into the deeper jungle.

This is a Malayan Castor (Ariadne isaeus isaeus)

Identified from the non appearance of a FW white spot.

This is a female Blue Brilliant (Simiskina phalia potina)

Blue Brilliant (Simiskina phalia potina)

Dark-based Line Blue (Prosotas gracilis ni)

This is a very tiny species which likes to lepak on the ground instead of high above the tree top.

Dark-based Line Blue (Prosotas gracilis ni)

And it's quite skittish too.

Dot Dash Sergeant (Athyma kanwa kanwa)

Short Banded Sailor (Phaedyma columella singa)

Here are a few comparisons of some close looking butterflies.

Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana) - male

Dark Archduke (Lexias dirtea merguia)

Pointed Ciliate Blue (Anthene lycaenina miya)

Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus goberus) - female

Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus goberus) - female

Ideopsis similis persimilis

Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger

Ideopsis vulgaris macrina (Blue Glassy Tiger)

                             Blue Glassy Tiger                                            Dark Glassy Tiger                                                                   

Malayan Lascar (Lasippa tiga siaka)

 

Burmese Lascar (Lasippa heliodore dorelia)

It is smaller than 'Tiga Siaka'

Looks like it is a pale looking Burmese Lascar

The following skipper is a forest dwelling flat.

Dark Yellow-banded flat (Celaenorrhinus aurivittatus cameroni)

                   

        

    Most likely a Malayan Sunbeam (Curetis santana) as it is the most common curetis around here.

Another comparison. This time is a Straight Pierrot (Caleta roxus pothus)

 

Female                                                                Male       

 
                                              

Common Line Blue (Prosotas nora superdates)

                                    Male                                                                        Female                                            

                                           

                                                          

 Fivebar Swordtail (Graphium antiphates itamputi)

The blue lines indicate stripes not bars

Upperside view

Fivebar Swordtail

It would constantly 'flap' its forewings while puddling.

Here it is again with a group of Appias lyncida vasava and a Prosotas nora superdates.

Banana Skipper

(Erionota thrax / Erionota torus) 

 Entomologist are still debating which is which. So I will leave them as it is.

Saletara panda distanti sulphurea

Malaysian Albatross 

(sounds like a sea bird but it's not)

Malaysian Albatross 

The following species of butterflies are quite unique and some are reportedly very rare. They are the Brownwings !

The above is an Extended Brownwing (Miletus gallus gallus) 

It will be impossible to identify which Ssp it belongs to without seeing it uppersides.

This is a Miletus gigantes (Giant Brownwing)

Status: rare / very rare

Giant Brownwing (Miletus gigantes)

Despite its slow flight pattern it was still difficult to snap their photos in flight.

Great Brownwing (Miletus symetus petronius)

Status: moderately common / very rare ?

Great Brownwing (Miletus symetus petronius)

That's the end of March 2023 butterflies ! 

More exciting butterflies are coming your way in April 2023 ! 

Stay Connected !

Blue Glassy Tiger - a flight in motion

Very seldom one could take a butterfly in flight (BiF) shots especially on handheld. I was given an opportunity to do so recently with the help of a friendly Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina).

Blue Glassy Tiger in flight

Flitty flutter as gently as it came.

There were two of them and I think this could be a male.

Early March is a flowering season over here. The Bidens pilosa flower attracted a number of butterfly species and one of them is the Blue Glassy Tiger. 

Off it goes again. It gently 'hops' from one flower to the other.

Finally I've got an almost perfect open wings' shot.

Almost like a 'Humming Bird', it stayed at one spot for awhile.

Flying around and still undecided which flower to attend to.

Finally it decided on the bottom flower.

MAY YOU ENJOY THE FEAST OF FLOWERS BESIEGED UPON THOU !

Some rare and uncommon butterflies in February 2023

At nearly 400 species of butterflies been photographed I thought the number of rare butterflies seen will dwindled but somehow I still managed the record of seeing a rare butterfly each month. So for the month of February 2023 there were at least three rare ones seen and all of them were skippers. 

The first rare/uncommon one seen is this skipper.

Ceylon Dartlet (Orions goloides). 

Its ID was confirmed by a more experienced entomologist from Singapore.

It landed just a few feet away from me. 

I am glad that I took some of its photos as initially I thought it might be just some Potanthus or other common Orions. It was busy feeding on the Bidens Pilosa flowers hence I had the opportunity to take photos of it from a few angles.

There were two of them actually.  They were seen just by the forest trail.

The next rare one is also a skipper. It's a Demon Flitter (Oerane microthyrus neaera). If you look at the previous post I might have actually seen it earlier but was not really sure of its ID. So the following week, I went back to the same location to try to look for it again. Initially I was unable to locate it but after walking for about 100 meters away I bumped into this one. It might be the same one I have seen earlier but this one was seen even closer.

This was seen at a different location then the above skipper. 

The only thing which differentiate it from other skippers are the whitish bands at its antenna. 

I wish I could show photos of it from different angles but it kept flying off and returning with the same pose and position. 

It was also seen near the forest trail but slightly deeper inside.

The third rare skipper, however, was photographed from quite a distance away but it is still unmistakable and it has a very peculiar scientific name.

Grass Bob (Suada swerga suava)

Grass Bob (Suada swerga suava)

I went back to the same spot to look for it the following day but unfortunately it did not appear again. 

After seeing all those rare ones, these are a few not so common ones.

Indian Cupid / Tailed Cupid (Everes lacturnus rileyi)

According to the CP field guide, this species can only be seen sporadically.

Common Sergeant (Athyma perius perius) is finally back. 

I believe this Athyma could be a localised species as some butterfly spotters have reported seeing it quite often at their sites. The last time I saw this species was in Penang - sometime back in July 2022.

Here is another uncommon one I think.

Dusky Cerulean (Jamides cunilda nisanca)

This is a male because I saw its deep blue upperside but was unable to photograph its magnificent colours.

Here comes the more common ones.

Common Tit (Hypolycaena crylus teatus)

A partially open dorsal view was good enough to confirmed that it's a male.

It takes lots of luck to photograph a BiF (Butterfly in Flight).

This should be a Common Sailor (Neptis hylas papaja)

Here it is again after flying a short distance and landed on a leaf to rest.

A farewell shot.

Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna elvira)

It's a small butterfly which has an erratic flight pattern.

THAT'S ALL FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2023.