Butterflies in February 2022

Here are some butterflies seen in February 2022. Most of them were seen in and around KL and Selangor regions.

Common Nawab (Polyura athamas athamas)

It was last seen on January 2021, just about 30 meters from the current spot.

All 'Nawabs' are uncommon and beautiful regardless whether they are named common or not.

This one was seen puddling on some dirt - probably leftovers of animal urine - pigs / deers?

Here's another uncommon butterfly.

Blue Posy (Drupadia scaeva scaeva)

There were three of them. All were skittish.

They are territorial - saw them chasing away each other before this one landed quite close to me.

Yellowdisc Oakblue (Arhopala perimuta regina)

So happy that I was able to bring out the colors of this uncommon butterfly.

Malay Staff Sergeant (Athyma reta moorei)

My lifer in February. It looks quite identical as the butterfly below.

Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte subrata)

Both are male and the above is more uncommon than the latter.

Malayan Sailor (Neptis duryodana nesia)

This is another uncommon 'sailor'.

Could this be a 'Lesser Lancer' (Pyroneura flavia fruhstorferi) ?

Harlequin (Taxila haquinus harquinus)

The above is a female and I have been seeing only females of this species so far.

I have ID this butterfly as a 'Common Line Blue' (Prosotas nora superdates) based on the markings.

Dark Banded Ace (Halpe ormenes vilasina)

Spotted Black Crow (Euploea crameri bremeri)

Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica aspasia aspasia)

A seldom seen upperside of this butterfly.

Dark Grass Blue - Zizeera karsandra (Moore)

This butterfly was seen in Kedah. According to the literature, it is more common in the northern states.

Rounded Six Line Blue (Nacaduba berenice)

This butterfly kept flying towards me and tried to chase me away from its perch - territorial behavior !

Common Cerulean (Jamides celeno)

Here is a sequence of photos depicting a Lesser Dart (Pothantus omaha omaha)

Underside view

Another underside view

Upperside view

Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana almana)

A fairly common garden butterfly. Seen here feeding on Lantana flowers.

Purple Bush Brown (Mycalesis orseis)

Jewel Four Line Blue (Nacaduba sanaya elioti)

Glassy Caerulean (Jamides parasaturatus paramalaccanus)

Malaccan Caerulean / Soldier Caerulean (Jamides malaccanus malaccanus)

Finally this one was identified as a Nacaduba beroe (Opaque Six-line Blue)

To be identified

To be identified

Banded Demon (Notocrypta paralysos)

Bright Red Velvet Bob (Koruthaialos sindu sindu)

Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa lambi)

Banded Yeoman (Cirrochroa orissa)

Hiding under a leave - sheltering from the rain - their feet has a strong grip. They will not fall unless the leaf is broken

Another view of a 'Lesser Dart'

Cycad Blue (Chilades pandava)

One side looks fine while the other side is tattered. Very unique.

A female 'Archduke' (Lexias pardalis dirteana) having a juicy meal

A seldom seen underside wing of a female Archduke.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS. TILL WE MEET AGAIN IN MARCH !

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 !