Swamp Tiger (Danaus affinis)

Sorry to disappoint you but this is not a real tiger. It was just a 'common' butterfly but it is reportedly a mangrove specialist. Saw this swamp thing at a mangrove area at Kuala Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia recently.

Side view

Front view

Looks quite menacing from the front.

View from the top

Saw at least 5 of them and they can be quite quarrelsome among themselves.

Have a Great Butterflying Year ahead !

Butterflies of Rice Fields - Dec 2015

Rice Fields are usually open areas with vast flat terrains. From the month of November to December, the rice fields in Peninsular Malaysia are usually ready to be harvested and the scenery can be spectacular. Despite the weather which can be really hot around the rice fields, i have found several butterflies which can withstand such extreme weather.

Common Evening Brown

This 'Evening Brown' is the wet weather morph which coincide with the current monsoon season.

Grey Pansy

Not a very sharp photo but this Great Pansy (Junonia atlites) is reported to have only one morph through out its range.

Tawny Coster

Just like the above Grey Pansy, this Tawny Coster also has no subspecies through out its range as reported by the experts.

After spending some time at the rice fields, i moved to a more shady location near the forest edge. 

Painted Jezebel

Most Jezebels are colorful and can be easily seen.

This could be a common crow or according to Dr Kirton's field guide, it should be a "Spotted Black Crow" (Euploea crameri)

'Common Four Ring' butterflies are quite common and can be easily found in your gardens.

Great Egg Fly

The above 'Great Egg Fly' can be found at your kampung and even your garden at times.

Have a Great Year 2016 !

Backyard Butterflies - Nov 2015

Sometimes your backyard can also produced many varieties of butterflies. Recently i had a short morning stroll at my 'backyard' and here are some of its butterflies. Most of them were common though.

Psolos fuligo

Its common name is "Brown Bob" and this is how its looks under the bright warm sun. Good morning Bob !

This is how it looks like under the shade.

....and this is how it looks like when sun bathing.

Zeuxidia amethystus

Hiding in the thick foliage was this butterfly which common name is : "Saturn". Apparently it is rarely seen but it certainly does not seem like it came from a faraway star nor has it shown any demonic characteristics.

I believe this butterfly looks more like a "Long Brand Bush Brown" (Mycalesis visala phamis) rather than a "Mottled Bush-Brown" (M. janardana). There were lots of them.

This is how its upper wings would look like. Pretty drab colors but nevertheless it was quite interesting to watch this butterfly as well.

I believe this was one of its friends too - probably a "Orsotriaena medus cinerea" (Dark Grass Brown)?

Commander (Moduza procris)

Everything will look nice under the sun.

Harlequin (Taxila haquinus)

I believe this is a female Harlequin

This is how its upper wing would look like.

Archduke

I believe this butterfly is a female Malayan Viscount

Common Faun (Faunis canens)

It kept itself to the dark forest ground so i decided to have some flashlight on it.

Butterfly watching or what i termed as "Butterflying" is certainly another interesting hobby you can pick up.