Butterflies in Jan 2022

Another new year and hopefully another better year. Weather has been sunny and windy lately. Good time to see more butterflies. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2022 is the year of the Tiger. So I will start off with a photo of a "tiger".

Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus)

Although this butterfly moves slowly but it is not palatable to most predators due to its toxic contents in its wings.

Blue Dandy (Laringa castelnaui)

Two males were seen and both are likely the same ones seen on September 2021.

Shadow play by Blue Dandy

From the markings indicated, the above butterfly should be a "Metallic Cerulean" (Jamides alecto ageladas). It's larger than most Jamides and its an uncommon butterfly.

Finally it did appear again after a long absence.

Dried-leaf Palmfly (Elymnias saueri saueri)

It was last seen in July 2021.

Luckily for me it came out in the open areas.

This is another mega and rare butterfly.

Banded Royal (Ranchana jalindra burbona)

This is a very skittish butterfly. Each step I took to move closer it will fly deeper into the forest.

This i believe is a "White Tipped Baron" (Euthalia merta merta - Moore)

This is also not a very common butterfly.

Common Duffer (Discophora sondaica despoliata)

This is another seldom seen butterfly due to its cryptic habit of coming out only at dawn or late evenings.

Plains Cupid (Chilades pandava pandava)

Malayan Punchinello (Zemeros emesoides)

White-banded Flat (Celaenorrhinus asmara asmara)

This is what happen if we forget to switch the system from birding mode to butterfly mode.

The above is a Banded Angle (Odontoptilium pygela). It was still a lifer for me despite the blurry photo.

This one looks like a Peninsular Ace (Halpe peletronix peletronix)

Junonia hedonia ida (Chocolate Soldier) - top view

Junonia hedonia ida (Chocolate Soldier) - side view

The following female butterflies might look different but they are actually from the same species. Just learnt from the more experienced butterfly spotters that there is only a tiny difference as indicated in the photos below.

This is a female Common Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana)

The difference between this female Archduke and a female Yellow Archduke is that the markings in the female Archduke is split (as per circle) while the markings for a female Yellow Archduke is a straight line.

I came across a bunch of caterpillars of the Banded Swallowtail (Papilio demolion demolion) This time there were 11 of them. These caterpillars are probably in their 3rd or 4th instar stages.

A few days later I went back to check their status and found that their host plant leaves have all dried out.

The depleted condition of their host plant.

From the almost dried leaves I managed to rescue three of them and out of the three, only one survive till its 5th instar stage.

5th instar stage of the Banded Swallowtail 

Looks like it has tiny looking "horns"

Lastly I have also came across this unique but nasty wasp. Have seen this wasp carrying caterpillars.

HOPE TO SEE AND POST MORE BUTTERFLIES SOON !

Butterflies in December 2021 - Common and migrating ones

The raining season continued in December with a major one on 18 December which flooded almost half of Shah Alam area in Selangor. At the time of this post the water has receded and life are back to normal for some people while some might still be trying to overcome their post-traumatic stress experience. 

Here are some of the butterflies which I've managed to photographed in the month of December.

Dark Blue Glassy Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis) 

A striking butterfly indeed.

Saw it in the afternoon at a lowland forest in Ampang, KL

Apparently it's a migrating butterfly. Only one was seen at that time.

Here's another striking butterfly

Royal Assyrian (Terinos terpander robertsia)

It can be fairly common in the forest regions

Apparently the above butterfly is named as 'Spotted Chocolate Soldier' (Junonia hedonia ida) in Kirton (2020) butterfly field guide. But of the time people called it "Chocolate Pansy"

To identify an "Euploea" you will need to carefully scrutinised the markings on its wings. Here are some uncommon ones.

The above is a Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii erichsonii)

It was seen at AID, Penang mainland.

 

Another angle of the Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii erichsonii)

At the same flowering plant - is this (Euploea mulciber mulciber) - Striped Blue Crow (ID corrected)

Here is another uncommon / rare 'crow'.

Long Branded Blue Crow (Euploea algea menetriesii) 

The above can look more like an E. algae than an E. modesta modesta. This 'crow' was seen at a lowland forest in Ampang. 

The same butterfly under a shade, it looks a bit darker here.

Sometimes if you are fortunate enough, some butterflies might appear in your office. Most of the time I would encounter moths in my office but this butterfly came 'crashing' into my office at 9th floor !

Centaur Oakblue (Arhopala centaurus nakula)

Wonder how it managed to fly all the way up to 9th floor - that's about almost 100 feet above the ground.

It was probably trying to escape from a predator as it appear to be 'tired'.

So I decided to take it back.

Took a few studio shots before releasing it back out in a nearby forest.

It actually has some lovely green eyes which unfortunately can't be seen here.

Another butterfly with green eyes.

Malayan Plum Judy (Saturata Abisara)

It think the above is a male.

Here are some tricky ones. The butterflies below look the same but they are not.

The above is a Horsfield's Five-Ring (Ypthima horsfieldii)

and this one is the Common Four-ring (Ypthima huebneri)

(Note: according to experts, the two smallest occellis are actually considered as one)

Here is a splendid example of a biological symbiotic relation between a butterfly, ants and plant.

This Lesser Darkwing (Allotinus unicolor unicolor) overposited some eggs on a plant that appears like having some spikes. 

The eggs are then further protected by ants which worked like an 'administrator'.

This is my lifer  butterfly in December.

Scarlet Flash (Rapala dieneces dienecis)

One is a male and one is probably a female.

Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra)

Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra)

Malayan Owl (Neorina lowii neophyta)

Extracting something from a discarded tissue paper.

Here is an example of the effect of sunlight on photography.

This is a "Club Silverline" (Spindasis syama terana)

The same "Club Silverline" but this time it was photographed under direct sunlight.

I believe the above is a "Purple Bush Brown" (Mycalesis orseis nautilus) 

This butterfly ends my butterfly adventures in December and the entire 2021.

Grey Pansy (Junonia atlites atlites)

This one was seen at IAD, Penang, Mainland.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN IN 2022, ADIOUS ! AMIGOS AND FRIENDS!