Butterflies of Singapore

Life History of the Common Red Flash

2012-01-22T01:43:00.002+08:00

Life History of the Common Red Flash (Rapala iarbus iarbus)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Rapala Moore, 1881
Species: iarbus Fabricius, 1787
Subspecies: iarbus Fabricius, 1787
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 32-37mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Mimosa pigra (Fabaceae, common name: Giant Sensitive Tree), Melastoma malabathricum (Melastomataceae, common name: Singapore Rhododendron).

A male Common Red Flash, note the circular bulge on the hindwing, indicating the presence of the circular brand on the upperside.

A sunbathing male Common Red Flash, note the trident mark on the forewings.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the male is red to orange with dark brown costal and distal border on the forewing, veins 2, 3 and 4 of which have their bases clothed with dark brown scales, forming the so-called trident mark. In contrast, the female is a dull coppery brown throughout. As with all Rapala species, the male has a circular brand near the base of space 7 on the hindwing. Underneath, both sexes are pale greyish buff. On both wings, there is a cell-end bar and a narrow pale brown post-discal line which is whitened on the outer side. The hindwing has a prominent, tornal, black, orange-crowned spot in space 2 and a smaller one on the tornal lobe. Between the two spots, the marginal area in space 1b is covered with bluish scaling. There is a white-tipped tail at the end of vein 2. The legs are white and black-banded.

The orange-crowned spot on the tornal lobe of a Common Red Flash adult.

A female Common Red Flash sunbathing on a leaf perch.

A sunbathing female Common Red Flash showing us its uniformly brown upperside.

Field Observations:
This species is moderately uncommon in Singapore and its distribution is localised to a few sites in and along the fringe of the nature reserves and a few wastelands where its host plants, Mimosa pigra and the Singapore Rhododendron, are growing in relative abundance. Both sexes have been observed to visit flowers and sunbathing with open-wings in later afternoon. These sunbathing routines for the males are regularly interrupted by vigorous dog-fighting among them.

Early Stages:
The Common Red Flash is polyphagous as its early stages feed on a number of host plants from different families. Locally two plants, Mimosa pigra and Melastoma malabathricum, have so far been identified as the larval host. C&P4 also lists Nephelium lappaceum (Rambutan) and Melastoma polyanthums as hosts in the Malay Peninsula. The caterpillars of the Common Red Flash feed on the flower buds, flowers, ripened fruits as well as young leaves of the host plants. In the wild, the caterpillars are typically found in the company of the ant Anoplolepis longipes [C&P4].

Local host plant #1: Mimosa pigra.

Local host plant #2: Melastoma malabathricum.

A mother Common Red Flash ovipositing on the stem of Mimosa pigra.

The eggs are laid singly on leaves, stems or young shoots of the host plants. Each egg is about 0.6mm in diameter, green in colour. It is burger-shaped with a depressed micropylar at the pole and a surface covered in a reticulated pattern of intersecting shallow ridges.

Two views of an egg of the Common Red Flash.

A maturing egg of the Common Red Flash.

It takes about 3-4 days for the egg to hatch. The pale yellowish brown newly hatched has a length of about 1.1mm and has bands of brown patches laterally and dorsally. Dark brown patches can be seen on the 1st, 7th-8th abdominal segments and on the anal plate. It also has a black prothoracic shield and a black head. The body also features fine setae dorsally and laterally.

1st instar caterpillar, early in this instar, length: 1.6mm

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this instar, length: 1.9mm..

After about 3-3.5 days of growth in the first instar, and reaching a length of about 2.2mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar. The black patches on the 1st, 7th-8th abdominal segments and on the anal plate seen in the first instar are now in paler brown. The prothoracic shield is similarly changed. There are numerous short fine setae emanating from rows of conical projections occurring dorso-laterally. Numerous short setae are also projected sub-spiracularly along the body fringe.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 4mm.

The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches a length of about 4-4.5mm, and after about 4-5 days in this stage, it moults again. Compared to the 2nd instar caterpillar, the yellowish green 3rd instar caterpillar has a more striking appearance with oblique dorso-lateral patches outlined in white. The dorsal nectary organ is morely readily observed now. The 3rd instar takes about 3 to 5 days to complete with the body length reaching about 6mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 4.5mm

The 4th instar resembles the late 3rd instar caterpillar closely. The colour of body markings is highly variable, ranging from green to pink and even to pale red. It seems that this coloration is closely associated with the colour of the host plant part the caterpillar is feeding on. The 4th instar takes about 3-6 days to complete with the body length reaching 10mm.

4th instar caterpillars feeding on flower buds (top row) and ripened fruits (bottom row) of Singapore Rhododendron.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpoillar, red form, length: 8mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, red/green form, length: 8.5mm.

The 5th instar caterpillar has similar markings as in the 4th instar. The body base colour is pale green. There are whitish oblique dorso-lateral stripes on most body segments, and in some caterpillars, these stripes are flanked by dark spots at their upper end. Conical projections with tuffs of setae are found dorso-laterally and laterally along the body fringe.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 14mm.

Two views of another 5th instar caterpillar, length: 16mm.

After about 5 days of feeding and reaching a length of about 16mm, the caterpillar stops food intake and wanders around for a pupation site. During this time, its body gradually shortened. In some individual the body color fades to a pale shade of green, whilst in others, the body color turns reddish to reddish brown. At the end of this period, typically the caterpillar chooses a a concealed space in a leaf litter as its pupation site.

Anoplolepis longipes ants attending to a 5th instar caterpillar on a a flower bud of Mimosa pigra.

Common Red Flash caterpillars in the company of an ant species on Mimosa pigra.

The pre-pupatory caterpillar prepares for pupation by spinning a silk girdle and a silk pad to which it attaches itself via graspers. After 1 day as a pre-pupa, pupation takes place. The pupa is predominantly reddish brown and has numerous small dark speckles. Pupal length: 9.5-12.5mm. The pupa has a typical Lycaenid shape with a relatively longer abdomen.

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Common Red Flash (green form)

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Common Red Flash (red form)

Two views of a pupa of the Common Red Flash.

Seven to eight days later, the pupa turns rather black, first in the wing pad and thorax, then progressively in the abdomen. The presence and absence of orange/reddish patch in the wing pads gives an early indication of the gender of the soon-to-emerge adult. The next day, the pupal stage comes to an end with the emergence of the adult butterfly.

A mature pupa of a male Common Red Flash.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Nelson Ong, Sunny Chir, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Butterfly Courtship Rituals

2012-01-14T19:50:00.003+08:00

Butterfly Courtship Rituals
Success strategies in finding the right mate

A large part of a butterfly's lifespan is spent directly or indirectly to achieve a particular objective - that of procreation. A newly eclosed butterfly spends most of its day feeding to build up its reserves and energy so that it can survive and search for a mate and to quickly ensure the continued survival of the species before it dies or succumbs to predation.

For a butterfly to be able to fulfil its objective of mating and producing viable eggs for the next generation, the males and females have to first locate each other. Males have to correctly identify a female of his own species by visual cues. A variety of characteristics, from colour, pattern, size, flight and other behavioural attributes that may not be apparent to the human eye, are used to assess the butterflies that they encounter.

Locating a Mate

So where does a fertile male go to look for potential females to mate with? Males generally have two main strategies. The first is perching or hill-topping. Basically, this method requires the male to search out a high vantage point from which he can have a clear view of an area. The moment an intruder or any movement is detected, the male will dart down and check out the newcomer into his territory.

If the intruder is a male, or a butterfly of another species, the male dives into the path of the newcomer and "attacks" it. An aerial dogfight ensues, until the intruder leaves the incumbent's territory. The resident male then returns to one of several favourite perches, and then continues to monitor his domain for new activity.

Hilltops or tall trees with the surrounding vegetation lower are ideal places for the 'perching' strategy. Hence such places function as a "singles' club" for both males and females of a species to find each other.

The second strategy employed by males of butterflies is what is referred to as "patrolling". The male flies continuously along tracks, forest edges and streams to look out for females. As it detects females by visual contact, it will check out anything that is in motion and even if it vaguely resembles a female of its own species.

Some males also patrol near its caterpillar host plants, with the objective of finding a newly-eclosed female of the same species. A well-known phenomenon amongst the Heliconiinae of South America is "pupal rape" where males of a particular species tear through the pupal shell of a female of the same species to mate with her even before she ecloses!

Courtship

When a male locates a female of his own species, it will switch to courtship mode and track the female persistently. He then begins the rituals of courtship. For the male, finding the prospective mate is just the beginning. There are still no guarantees that the female will considering him worthy of fertilising her offspring.

The female being courted will assess and choose the male depending on age, general appearance and health and potential ability to provide viable spermatophore for her reproductive success. Females of many species tend to mate only once so her choice is crucial. Indeed, many ButterflyCircle members have observed an ovipositing female, collected the eggs for breeding, only to find that the eggs were infertile and did not hatch at all! Could that be due to her eggs not being successfully fertilised by the male?

Courtship for the male commences with trying to get the female's attention, via a series of signals, ranging from flapping around the female to gain her attention (she may be going around her own business of feeding for example), sending chemical signals to her, in the form of pheromones. A typical movement is where the male flaps in position, usually upwind from the female, and release his pheromones so that she gets a clear signal of his intention to mate.

In the male, pheromones are usually found in the specialised scales on various parts of the wing - called androconial cells, specialised organs like the hair pencils in Danaianae species, or hair brushes on the undersides of the wings brushing against a special scent organs on the wings.

Rejection

The female which picks up the signals then decides on her next course of action. She may continue with her own business and fly away, totally ignore the male. Of course, the male usually being persistent in his courtship attempts (like some men do in our human world!), will take the initial rejection in his stride and continue to re-send the physical and chemical signals to the female repeatedly.

Once again, the female may fly off, indicating that she is not interested. This can go on for several attempts before the female responds, or continues to reject the male until he gets the message and gives up.

In some cases, the males are more aggressive and flies in such a way as to obstruct the female's ability to fly off, or corners her. If the female is still not interested, she will usually stop with her wings opened, and adopt her "rejection posture".

This is usually done with her wings opened either fully flat or half-opened, but with her abdomen thrust upwards and elevated such that it would be all but impossible for the male to clasp the end of her abdomen. A persistent male may still flap violently above the female and try to push her abdomen down, but he will usually fail, and fly off after a few attempts.

Success at Last!

If the female responds positively and decides to accept her suitor's advances, she will close her wings and remain still. This signals the male to now approach her. He will land beside her, flick his wings a few times, moves beside her facing the same direction, and curls his abdomen towards hers and grasps hers using his claspers. The receptive female will extend and offer her abdomen for coupling.

Once engaged, the coupled butterflies will face away from each other in the usual mating pose, Usually, if disturbed, the larger wingspan of the two (usually the female) will do the flying, whilst the other partner remains still. It would be unimaginable for both to fly at the same time, and in opposite directions!

In the field, we have seen impatient male butterflies hovering around pupae from which females are about to eclose, and immediately mate with them when the female breaks out of her pupa. Copulation occurs even before the female is able to dry her wings properly. In one case, the male was so insistent on 'doing it' that he damaged the wings of the female, leaving her crippled and unable to fly!

In other cases, we have also observed males of various species coupling in flight in an instant, dispensing with the long courtship rituals and avoid suffering the fate of rejection. One example that I have personally witnessed, was when a male, perched on a high vantage position, swooped down on a passing female, engaged her in mid-air, and both fell downwards, coupled into the bushes and stayed mated for quite some time! Now that, I would call precision engagement!

And so we see how in the world of butterflies, males have to woo their mates and work hard before they can successfully mate with a female of their choice. Males will often have to suffer the 'indignity' of rejection as there are no guarantees that the female that they have targeted, would accept them, no matter how hard they try. But like all things in life, success always comes to those who are persistent in the face of failure and work hard for it.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Federick Ho, Khew SK, Terry Ong & Anthony Wong

References :

Handbook for Butterfly Watchers : Robert M Pyle, 1984, 1992; Houghton Mifflin Company, New York
A World for Butterflies - Their Lives, Behavior and Future : Dr Phil Schappert, 2000; Firefly Books
Butterflies : Dick Vane-Wright, 2003; The Natural History Museum, London

Life History of the Malay Dartlet

2012-01-07T20:33:00.001+08:00

Life History of the Malay Dartlet (Oriens paragola)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Oriens Evans, 1932
Species: paragola de Nicéille, 1896
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 22-27mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Ottochloa nodosa (Poaceae).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, both sexes are dark chocolate brown with amber-coloured post-discal bands on both fore- and hindwings, and amber-coloured cilia on the hindwing termen. The forewing band stretches from the dorusm to almost touching the costa, and is deeply excavate at vein 5. The lower cell spot fuses with this band at space 2. The hindwing post-discal band is shorter, stopping well short of the costa. Underneath, the wings are dark brown with post-discal bands mirroring those on the uppersides. These bands are sharply defined and not edged by black spots (as is the case of the Oriens gola, the Common Dartlet).

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

This species was not listed by early researchers as extant in Singapore. It was discovered about one year ago and added to the Singapore checklist as species #297. According to C&P4, the Malay Dartlet frequents lowland forests. However, adult sightings in Singapore have so far been very infrequent and only confined to one grassland adjacent to a forested area. The species has a preference for perching in semi-shady areas, and visiting flowers in the grassland for nectar. Given that the larval host plant is a common grass species, there is a possibility that Malay Dartlet exists elsewhere in Singapore. Even if this is not so now, this species has the potential of spreading beyond the currently known location.

Early Stages:

The host plant, Ottochloa nodosa, is a common grass species which can be found in many locations in Singapore and is utilized by several other common skipper spp. (Common Dartlet, Chestbut Bob, and one Caltoris sp.) as larval host plant. The caterpillars of the Malay Dartlet feed on leaves of this plant, and live in shelters made by joining edges of a grass blade together with silk threads.

Host plant: Ottochloa nodosa.

A female Malay Dartlet resting between oviposition runs.

A female Malay Dartlet laying an egg on the underside of a grass blade.

The eggs are laid singly on the underside of a leaf of the host plant. Between each oviposition run, during which one or two eggs are laid on separate leaves, the mother butterfly has the habit of perching on a sunny spot to re-energise This could go on for a few rounds before the mother decides to retire altogether. Each tall hemispherical egg is milky white and is finely recticulated. The base diameter is about 0.75mm.

An egg of the Malay Dartlet.

A maturing egg of the Malay Dartlet.

A mature egg with the young caterpillar already nibbled away the polar part of the egg shell.

It takes about 5 days for the egg to hatch. The young caterpillar eats just enough of the shell to emerge, and will devour the rest of the egg shell after emergence. The newly hatched has a length of about 1.7-1.8mm. Its has a cylindrical body shape, very short dorso-lateral and sub-spiracular setae and a tuff of long setae at the posterior end. The body is creamy white with a prominent black collar on the dorusm of the prothorax. The head capsule is entirely black.

A newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar in the process of nibbling away its egg shell.

Two views of a newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, soon after devouring the egg shell.

The body color changes to pale yellowish green after a few feeding sessions on the leaf. The newly hatched constructs its leaf shelter near the tip of a grass blade soon after it is done with the egg shell. Between feedings on the nearby leaf lamina, the caterpillar retreats to its shelter for rest and security. By the time the caterpillar lies dormant in its shelter for the moult to the 2nd instar, its length has reached about 4-4.5mm. The 1st instar takes about 4-4.5 days to complete.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 2.4mm.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 4mm.

The 2nd instar caterpillar is again whitish, but appears to be yellowish green with its "stomach" contents showing through the translucent cuticle. The anal plate still carries a few setae but these are not as long and prominent as in the 1st instar. Although the prothoracic collar is still present, it appears to lose lighter in its black coloration. The head capsule is still black in colour. This instar lasts about 3-4 days with the body length reaching about 6.5-7mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 4.2mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 5.2mm.

The 3nd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely in body markings except for the diminishing black prothoracic collar. Two faint whitish dorso-lateral bands, first appears in the 2nd instar but less obvious, are now discernible. This instar lasts about 2-3 days with the body length reaching about 8.5-9mm.

A newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar, the head capsule is yet to turn black.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 7.2mm.

Two views of a 3nd instar caterpillar, later in this stage. length: 8.2mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the 3rd instar caterpillar closely but with the black prothoracic collar almost completely diminished. As in the earlier instars, the head capsule is completely black and there is no markings on the anal plate. This penultimate instar lasts 3-4 days with the body length reaching up to about 15.5-16mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 12mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 15.8mm.

The 5th (and final) instar caterpillar loses the black coloration of its head capsule seen in the earlier instars. The head is now pale neutral yellow to neutral green. The body colour has a strong tone of yellowish white, with two broad and whitish dorso-lateral bands and two narrow pale yellowish lateral bands. This instar takes about 6-8 days to complete with the body length reaching up to about 24-25mm.

Two views of a newly moulted 5th instar caterpillar.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this intar, length: 24mm.

Towards the end of the 5th instar, the the body of the caterpillar shortens and its base coloration changes to a translucent pale green. Tyipcally it picks the underside of a grass glade for its pupation site. It becomes dormant in this shallow leaf shelter and enters the prepupatory phase which lasts for one day. During this time period the caterpillar spins a silk pad with a transverse band for the grapers in its anal prolegs to attach to, and a silk girdle across the dorsum of the 2nd-3rd abdominal segments.

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Malay Dartlet.

The pupa secures itself to the substrate with a cremastral attachment to the silk pad and the previously constructed silk girdle. It is yellowish green throughout and has dorsal, dorso-lateral and lateral whitish to yellowish bands. There is a long and pointed snout, and the abdomen is relatively long. Length of pupae: 18.5-21.5mm.

A Malay Dartlet caterpillar molts to its pupal stage.

Two views of a pupa of the Malay Dartlet.

On the last day of the pupal period, the pupa becomes mostly dark brown. Yellowish orange markings against a dark brown background are now visible in the wing cases. Finally after about 7-8 days of pupal phase, eclosion takes place with the adult emerging from the pupal case.

Two views of a mature pupa of the Malay Dartlet.

A Malay Dartlet emerges from its pupal stage.

A newly eclosed Malay Dartlet.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Koh Cher Hern, Loke PF, Chng CK, Sunny Chir, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Butterfly of the Month - December 2011

2011-12-31T10:56:00.004+08:00

Butterfly of the Month - December 2011
The Scarce Silverstreak (Iraota rochana boswelliana)

On this New Year's Eve, we feature the last of our series of Butterfly of the Month feature species for the year 2011. This is the 49th species that we have on the Butterfly of the Month series since this monthly feature was started way back in Dec 2007 with the Malay Lacewing. It's been four years already?!

The year 2011 has indeed been a tumultuous year around the world. The most significant phenomenon that has affected lives all across the globe would have to be the protracted financial crisis that has plagued the US and then Europe. Businesses and the economies in the rest of the world, and in particularly in Asia which is of relevance to many of us in Singapore, were also affected.

Between the twin disasters in Japan, the earthquakes in New Zealand, the floods in Thailand and a whole series of 'natural' occurrings, these events give us an indication that ol' Mother Earth is not exactly in the pink of health. A sign of the effects of global warming?

Even in Singapore, where unprecedented "once-in-50-years" floods happened like every few months, engineers are scrambling to review design capacities of drainage systems. Conventional Codes of Practice may be way outdated and grossly inadequate for the deluge of water coming down from the heavens these days!

At a personal front, 2011 has indeed been an eventful year, with changes in my workplace that took many of us by surprise. As the company looks forward to a new future with a new shareholder in 2012, there is optimism ahead, as we put behind us 7 years of 'colonialism' under a foreign shareholder that spent very little effort to grow the business. The potential new shareholder, of Chinese origin, can hopefully bring the company forward, with Asia, and particularly China, being at the forefront of driving the world economy in the years to come.

For our beloved butterflies, it has also been a good year, with several new discoveries and re-discoveries recorded in 2011. As the Singapore Checklist crossed the 300 mark in March this year, ButterflyCircle has consolidated its expertise and had been more rigourous in recording new finds with further validation by experts in the region and even abroad. In particular, many other new finds in the Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae families remain unannounced as validations continue at the scientific level behind the scenes. We are confident that many of these discoveries will be unveiled in the year ahead.

It has also been encouraging to see more community effort in butterfly conservation projects, as government organisations like the National Parks Board moves up another gear into better nature conservation and biodiversity enhancement efforts at a strategic level. Even so, there are those who consider these efforts inadequate and too late for Singapore. However little that can be done, there is always still hope for nature, and for our flying jewels.

The birthstone for December is the turquoise. This precious gemstone is an opaque blue-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium. The stone has been used in a very wide range of applications, from the usual rings, bracelets and pendants in jewellery, to the inlays of the famous burial mask of King Tutankhamen, to entire domes of Iranian palaces and mosques!

If cold December gave you birth,
The month of snow and ice and mirth,
Place on your hand a turquoise blue;
Success will bless whate'er you do.
- Gregorian Birthstone Poems

For the month of December and on this last day of 2011, we feature the elegant Lycaenid, the Scarce Silverstreak (Iraota rochana boswelliana). With a wingspan of about 36mm, this robust hairstreak is a zippy butterfly and is able to fly around at high speeds.

The Scarce Silverstreak is not really as scarce as its English common name suggests, although we would hardly describe the species to be very common either. Due to the fact that its caterpillar host plant, Ficus microcarpa is cultivated as a common roadside bush at many of our parks and as low barrier roadside hedges in Singapore, the butterfly is more often seen in urban areas and parks than in the nature reserves.

The males are a shining greenish-blue, reminescent of a pretty turquoise jewel. With jet-black broad apical borders, the upperside of the butterfly is a sight to behold if and when the male Scarce Silverstreak opens his wings to sunbathe (which unfortunately, is a rare occurrence). Females are a dull bronzey brown above and unmarked.

The underside of both sexes feature cryptic patterns of brown and silvery-white streaks, with dashes of blue and gold on the hindwings. There is a large black eyespot at the tornal lobe and blue-green scaling at the tornal area. The hindwing sports 3 tails, with the one at vein 3 slightly more pronounced in the female.

The butterfly is a rapid flyer, with females more often seen than males. Perhaps this is more due to the fact that females are more regularly encountered when they descend from the treetop canopies to oviposit at their host plants in urban areas. Sightings are more often made in the late mornings and early afternoons. The life history of the Scarce Silverstreak has been recorded here.

The Scarce Silverstreak is quite regularly observed at the Southern Ridges in Singapore, primarily at the hillside parks at Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hills Park and Kent Ridge Park. They usually stay at treetop level, descending to feed at flowers or the fruits of the Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum). Females tend to open their wings to sunbathe more often than the rarely-seen males.

And so on this final day of December 2011, we feature this pretty Lycaenid, as we look forward to many more years of butterflying ahead. On behalf of all the members ButterflyCircle, I wish all our readers and friends all around the world a Happy New Year ahead! Three Cheers to our Butterflies!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Goh LC, Khew SK, Nelson Ong, Jonathan Soong and Horace Tan

This blog article is specially dedicated to Sunny Chir, who goes by the nick 'Silverstreak' in our ButterflyCircle community. Sunny is an amazing photographer and butterfly watcher who has single-handedly delivered some of the best photographs of rare species that I've seen anywhere! He has also contributed to many discoveries and re-discoveries to the Singapore checklist due to his untiring efforts out in the field, and exceptionally eagle-eyed observations of our butterfly fauna.

A New Butterfly Garden at Tampines

2011-12-28T20:00:00.009+08:00

A New Butterfly Garden at Tampines
Tampines-Changkat Community Garden

Some time back on 3 April 2011, a small 'ground-breaking' ceremony took place at the open space next to Block 124, Tampines Street 11. The ceremony was for the community residents to be introduced to a new butterfly garden. The brainchild of the Member of Parliament for Tampines-Changkat, Ms Irene Ng, the butterfly garden would be a new eco-friendly initiative to create a butterfly-conducive habitat for residents and nature enthusiasts to enjoy.

Noting that "there are few butterflies around Tampines as they are sensitive to fogging and pesticides" MP Irene Ing said that the butterfly garden is intended to create a natural setting with butterfly hostplants and nectaring plants to attract these flying beauties to this little patch of green amongst the residential blocks.

As the butterfly garden and the construction of a circular enclosure took place, the community centre's staff and a group of enthusiasts from the Residents' Committee realised that they were not familiar nor knowledgeable enough with the ecology of butterflies to attract them to the proposed garden. One of them approached me to give the community members and enthusiasts a talk about butterflies.

When I visited the new butterfly garden that was under construction, I noted that there were a few improvements that could be made to the design of the enclosure. For one, due to the flat top design of the circular enclosure there were 'angles' that would trap the butterflies within the enclosure. Another oversight was a stepped concrete bridge that allowed an elevated platform within the enclosure. This was not particularly handicapped-friendly. However, as the construction of the enclosure was already at an advanced stage, there was little that could be done to improve the design.

On 23 Sep 2011, I conducted an introductory talk about butterflies at the Tampines-Changkat Community Centre's hall. I was pleasantly surprised at the rather good turnout of about 80 residents and enthusiasts, many with their children in tow. There to grace the occasion, was the MP for Tampines-Changkat, Ms Irene Ng, and her husband, Graham Berry.

The attentive crowd was entertained by the many new facets about butterflies that they weren't aware of. And they also learnt not to kill off the 'ugly-looking' caterpillars that would one day turn into beautiful butterflies!

At the end of the talk, there were many questions from the residents, and Brian Goh, ButterflyCircle's youngest (but very knowledgeable!) member, sportingly helped to answer some of the questions. He impressed the crowd with his knowledge about butterflies - even at his tender young age!

Before Irene left for another function, she presented me with an autographed copy of her recently-launched book, "The Short Stories and Radio Plays of S. Rajaratnam". Of course, I reciprocated her generosity with a copy of my book in return.

For those who did not know, Irene is also a fellow-Penangite. Before joining politics, she was the Senior Political Correspondent of The Straits Times. Irene has won several journalism and writing awards. She is currently the Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, besides being a Member of Parliament with a very busy schedule!

Upon completition, the Tampines Butterfly Garden was finally launched on 26 Nov 2011. Irene penned a short article on her Facebook page. Prof Edwin Thumboo even wrote a short poem, reproduced here from Irene's FB page :

Butterflies

Below circling, housing skies
Lovely, delicate patterns glow.
Touch gently, with your eyes,
Then feel radiant colours flow

Into each busy, bustling day,
Enriching all you do, and say

Prof Edwin Thumboo

With help from the National Parks Board, the right balance of host and nectaring plants was selected, and coupled with tender-loving care from a few enthusiasts amongst the Tampines residents, the little enclosure is now teeming with butterflies. Although the netting material of the enclosure is unsuitable for smaller species of butterflies, it does well enough to contain the larger and more showy species.

When I visited it recently, there was quite a decent amount of butterfly activity with the common urban species like the Mottled Emigrant, Common Mormon, Plain Tiger, Autumn Leaf, Common Mime, Great Mormon and Common Grass Yellow flying and feeding on the Lantana and Pagoda Flowers.

There were even a couple of photographers who told us that they came all the way from Toa Payoh after learning about this new Butterfly Garden at Tampines!

I hope that the external areas around the enclosure can be expanded with more plants and walkways so that more butterflies will visit the area, so that visitors can enjoy free-ranging butterflies, and not just those that are flying within the enclosure. It was encouraging to see that many enthusiastic residents of the area were already helping to tend to the plants and also breeding various species of butterflies to release at the Butterfly Garden.

So here we have, thanks to MP Irene Ng, a new community garden for butterflies at Tampines, and for the residents to enjoy the beauty of nature's flying jewels! It will hopefully be another shining example of community gardens within the heartlands that would encourage other constituencies to set up their own butterfly gardens to encourage the conservation of Singapore's butterfly fauna.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Gilbert Quek & Khew SK

A Season for Red, Green and Black!

2011-12-24T17:48:00.000+08:00

A Season for Red, Green & Black
ButterflyCircle Wishes One and All a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012!

It's the Chrismas and the holiday season again. As people from all over the world are preparing for a nice sumptuous dinner, merry-making and spending time with family and friends on Christmas Eve, let's remember to spread a little cheer and love to those who are less privileged or alone.

On the personal front, it has been an extremely busy and challenging year, as my company prepares for an exciting future ahead with a new shareholder. 2011 has been a year of new experiences - both happy and sad, where I bade farewell to long-time colleagues and welcomed new ones. The year ahead will be fraught with challenges and new relationships, but one which I look forward optimistically to. It will be a time for great change and many personal quests.

I am also glad that ButterflyCircle has had many new and capable members joining us and taking the high-quality photography and research work to newer heights. The spirit of sharing and camaraderie has never been stronger, and we even have active and knowledgeable junior and senior members coming on board with us.

We look forward to many new discoveries for Singapore in 2012, many of which are already under preparation for addition to the Singapore checklist after final scientific validation by a few experts. I am optimistic that the Singapore butterfly checklist will reach 310 species by the end of the new year!

ButteflyCircle would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members and friends from around the world a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012! May our Beloved Flying Jewels continue to survive and thrive on our lil' island in the sun!

Note on Photo : A shot of Singapore's little 'red spitfire', the Common Red Flash (Rapala iarbus iarbus) sunbathing on a blade of grass in the nature reserves. The little fast-flying butterfly is very local in distribution but can be common in the special locations where they are found. Males tend to dog-fight in the late hours of the day and stop with their wings spread open as in the photo, showing their attractive crimson uppersides.

Life History of the Common Posy

2011-12-17T21:46:00.002+08:00

Life History of the Common Posy (Drupadia ravindra moorei)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Drupadia Moore, 1884
Species: ravindra Horsfield, 1828
Sub-species: moorei Distant, 1882
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 20-32mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Saraca cauliflora (Leguminosae, common name: Yellow Saraca), Desmos chinensis (Annonaceae, common name: Dwarf Ylang Ylang), Dimocarpus longan var. malesianus (Sapindaceae, common name: Wild Longan), Lithocarpus elegans (Fagaceae, common name: Spike Oak), Agelaea macrophylla (Connaraceae).

A male Common Posy.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the male is dark brown on the forewing (which also bears an obscure orange discal patch in some specimens) and is purplish blue on the hindwing for most of the lower portion; the female is dark brown on both wings (with traces of an orange discal patch on the forewing) and a series of marginal black spots on the pale bluish tornal area of the hindwing. Underneath, both sexes are alike in having mostly orange forewing and mostly white hindwing. The forewing has post-discal and discal series of faint black striae while the hindwing is marked with prominent bold black bands and spots. The tornal area of the hindwing bears bluish scales up to vein 3. A long filamentous tail occurs at the end of vein 2. In contrast, two much shorter tails occur at the end of veins 1b and 3 respectively.

A female Common Posy.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

The Common Posy is relatively common in the nature reserves of Singapore, but with its occurrence mainly confined to the Central and Bukit Timah catchment reserves. The adults typically fly in a hopping fashion, and they have been observed to sunbathe with their wings opened flat in sunlit conditions. The species have been observed to be attracted to the plant sap exuded by young shoots of Leea indica and Smilax bracteata.

Early Stages:

The immature stages of Common Posy are polyphagous. To date five plants have been recorded as its local hosts. Caterpillars of all instars feed on young and tender leaves of the host plants. They are also polychromatic in the early instars, occurring in either a green form or a pink form.

Local host plant : Desmos chinensis.

A mating pair of Common Posy.

Eggs are laid on the underside of a young leaf or other parts of a young shoot of the host plant. The white egg, about 0.9mm in diameter, is shaped like a lightly flattened chinese bun with its surface covered with numerous polygonal pits. The polar pit holds the depressed micropylar.

An egg laid on the young shoot of Desmos chinensis.

Two views of an egg of the Common Posy. Diameter: 0.9mm.

Each egg takes about 2 to 2.5 days to hatch. The young caterpillar emerges after nibbling away sufficiently large upper portion of the egg shell. Measured at a length of about 1.3mm, its pale yellow body bears long whitish setae dorso-laterally and laterally. Its head capsule is pale yellowish, and both its prothoracic shield and anal plate are colored as per the body base colour.

Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar of the Common Posy, length: 1.3mm

As the caterpillar grows, raised tubercles become apparent on the dorsum, one pair to each of 2nd-3rd thoracic segments, and one to each 1st-7th abdominal segments. The body colour is pale yellowish green as the caterpillar grows and feeds on the plant materail.This instar lasts for about 2 days with the body length reaching up to 3mm.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 2mm.

Covered with numerous short setae, the body of the 2nd instar caterpillar is either whitish with a pale green undertone or yellowish with a dark brown undertone. Each of the 2nd and 3rd thoracic segments has a pair of dorso-lateral conical projections, whilst each of the first six abdominal segments have a short conical projections, taller than those on the thoracic segments. These projections are yellowish brown around the tip and whitish at the base. The growth in this stage brings the caterpillar to a length of about 5-5.5mm, and after about 2 days in this stage, it moults again.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 3.3mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar of a different colour form, length: 4mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, dormant prior to its moult, length: 5mm.

The 3rd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely with minor changes observed. The dorsal projections on the abdominal segments are now longer and pointed than those on the thoracic segments. This instar takes about 2 days to complete with the body length reaching about 8.5-9mm before the next moult.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, pink form, length: 7mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, green form, length: 8mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, dormant prior to its moult, length: 8.5mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar ushers in a drastic change from the 3rd instar: A diamond-shaped marking formed by a reddish brown line running from the dorsum of the 1st abdominal segment to the side of 5th abdominal segment, and then back to the dorum of the 7th abdominal segment, and straight on to the posterior end. The dorso-lateral pairs of projections seen on the 2nd-3rd thoracic segments in earlier instars are no longer discernible. The body base colour is yellowish green in one form and yellowish pink in another. This instar lasts about 3-4 days with length reaching 17-18mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 13.5mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, length: 16.5mm.

Two views of another 4th instar caterpillar, length: 17mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 17mm.

Towards the end of the 4th instar, the caterpillar ceases eating and wanders around for a pupation site. At this time, the caterpillar's body changes to a dark purplish brown coloration, and in some specimens, with a green underdone in the abdominal area. It typically chooses the underside of a stem or branch for its pupation. Here, the pre-pupatory larva spins a silk girdle and a silk pad and then anchors itself on it in a head-down posture.

Two views of a pre-pupatory larva of the Common Posy.

A Common Posy caterpillar molts to its pupal stage.

Pupation takes place after one day of the pre-pupal stage. In a typical colour form, the pupa is brownish with with whitish streaks/patches in the thorax and wing pads, and has a large and similarly coloured dorsal patch on the abdomen. In another form, the brown is replaced by black and the abdomen is coloured similar to the thorax. Length of the pupa: 12-13mm.

Two views of a typical pupa of the Common Posy.

Two views of another pupa of the Common Posy.

7 days later, the mature pupa turns dark in the dorsal and wing case areas, and yellowish brown elsewhere. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupa.

Two views of a mature pupa of the Common Posy.

A newly eclosed Common Posy resting near its pupal case.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth EK-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006.

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Benedict Tay, Mark Wong, Loke PF, Anthony Wong, Federick Ho, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Book Review by Dr Albert Orr

2011-12-10T19:00:00.057+08:00

Book Review :

A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore

by Dr Albert Orr

204 Australian Entomologist, 2011, 38 (4)

BOOK REVIEW

A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore by Khew Sin Khoon. Ink on Paper Communications Ltd, 2010; xxv + 342 pp. Price (in Australia) $50. ISBN 978 981 08 7018 8 (paperback).

The city state of Singapore is home to nearly 300 species of butterfly. Perhaps this richness should come as no surprise for a place which styles itself as the ‘Garden City’ and which lies just off the tip of the Malay Peninsula, itself boasting nearly 1000 species; nonetheless it is an impressive total given Singapore’s small area of just 700 km2 and largely urban environment.

This charming book is the first ever to depict almost all species currently known from Singapore. A glossy production in standard octavo field-guide format, it begins with a concise but adequate introduction to the butterflies, covering the topics of nomenclature, adult morphology, early stages, ecology and behaviour, where to find butterflies in Singapore (together with a map of local hotspots) and the techniques of butterfly watching and photography.

A lot of information is packed into a very few pages. A section on how to use the book explains clearly the conventions adopted with regard to describing abundance, habitat, speed of flight and other information.

There follows a family by family, subfamily by subfamily, species by species account. Typically, each species receives a single page, with two pages for the highly polymorphic Papilio memnon agenor (Linnaeus, 1758).

Half the page is devoted to a large scale portrait of the species, typically perching or feeding, occasionally in flight. Virtually every one of these main photos is stunning. In many cases, particularly in the smaller species, individual rows of scales may be discerned, a level of resolution that was almost unobtainable using film.

The main image is supplemented by two thumbnail photos, generally showing a different posture and frequently the opposite side of the wings to those depicted in the main portrait. Each species is identified primarily by an English common name. Many of these have been in use for years but a few are of more recent coinage. However, all are evocative and appealing and give the impression that they have established their worth by natural selection within the very active Singapore butterfly interest group.

Australian readers may be surprised to find that Graphium agamemnon (Linnaeus, 1758) is known as ‘The Tailed Jay’ and ‘The Palm Dart’ is not Cephrenes augiades (C. Felder, 1860) but Telicota augias (Linnaeus, 1763). In finer print is given the full trinomial designation with author and date, its abundance class, ranging from common to very rare, and its wingspan in mm. (Here forewing length would have been a more useful measure, especially as most species are photographed with wings folded). Habitat is indicated by one of four icons: Urban, Parks and Gardens, Forests, Mangroves/Coastal.

Speed of flight is shown on a five point scale from slow to fast. Larval hostplants are listed in another small box (with family names sometimes wrongly italicised). A brief text describes habits, habitats and salient identification features. The formula is extremely easy to use and much information can be obtained for little effort. For ease of reference the six families have a colour code visible along the fore edge of the book when closed.

The book is very definitely aimed at the butterfly watcher and photographer, rather than the collector. Not a single photograph of a dead butterfly appears within its pages. It will, however, surely become indispensable to every local enthusiast and interested visitor to the island state and be useful elsewhere in the region.

Dr Albert Orr

About the Reviewer
Dr Albert Orr is a professional entomologist of 35 years standing. He is a retired lecturer in ecology and invertebrate zoology and has been an Honorary Research Fellow at Griffith University since 1996. Dr Orr is a writer and illustrator, as well as a consultant and scientific editor.

A Selection of Books by Dr Albert Orr

Butterflies of Australia - Paperback - 2010 ; 336 pages ; ISBN: 9781741751086 - AU $ 45.00
Dragonflies of Peninsular Malaysia & Singapore - Paperback - 2005 ; 128 pages ; ISBN 9838121037 - S $ 17.90
A Guide to the Dragonflies of Borneo - Hardcover - 2003 ; 195 pages ; ISBN: 9838120693 - US $ 133.00

Acknowledgments : Special thanks to Dr Albert Orr for reviewing my "Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore" in the Australian Entomologist. The original PDF article can be found here.

Life History of the Orange Awlet

2011-12-03T16:00:00.000+08:00

Life History of the Orange Awlet (Burara harisa consobrina)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Burara Swinhoe, 1893
Species: harisa Moore, 1866
Sub-species: consorbrina Plötz, 1884
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 45-50mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Arthrophyllum diversifolium (Araliaceae)

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Burara harisa (The Orange Awlet) is the look-alike cousin of the larger (and less common) Burara etelka (The Great Orange Awlet). Above, the male is coppery brown with no brand; the female is deep steely blue with greenish wing base. Underneath, both sexes are shaded in dark orangy brown and have pale orange streaks beyond the cell-end on both wings. Basal halves of the forewings are shaded purplish blue, more extensive and prominent in the female. Orange cilia are found on the hindwings, along the termen from spaces 1 to 3. The head, palpi, legs and the ventral surface of the thorax and abdomen are colored orange.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

The adults can be found in the nature reserves as well as the Southern Ridges. They are more likely to be encountered in early morning hours and late afternoon, frequenting shaded forest areas. At times adults can be found nectaring at flowering plants and puddling at damp grounds. Compared to the adults, the larval stages are more readily found in leaf shelters on its host plant, Arthrophyllum diversifolium, which is a relatively common plant growing in the reserves as well as urban parks. The adults fly with swift, strong and darting flights.

Early Stages:

The caterpillars of the Orange Awlet feed on the leaves of the host plant, Arthrophyllum diversifolium, and seek concealment and protection in a leaf shelter. For its shelter, an early instar caterpillar typically makes a sinuous cut from the leaf edge, and proceeds to fold the leaf fragment onto the leaf underside where silk threads are used to secure the leaf edge to the leaf surface. The shelters for the much larger caterpillars in late instars are simply made by joining the two opposing edges of a leaf.

The leaf shelter of an early instar caterpillar seen on the leaf underside of the host plant.

A leaf shelter of a late instar caterpillar of the Orange Awlet.

A young specimen of the local host plant: Arthrophyllum diversifolium.

A far view of an Arthrophyllum diversifolium in a Hill Park bearing signs of an infestation of the Orange Awlet.

The eggs are laid singly on the leaf upperside of a middle-aged or mature leaf of the host plant. Each dome-shaped egg is creamy white with a beige tinge. The micropylar sits atop and a number of vertical ridges running longitudinally from it to the base. An equatorial series of short, reddish, intermittent patches can be seen as the egg develops. The diameter is about 1mm.

Two views of an egg of the Orange Awlet

A sequence of three views of a maturing egg of the Orange Awlet over a span of 2 days.

It takes 3-4 days for the collected egg to hatch. The young caterpillar eats just enough of the shell to emerge, and has a length of about 2.9mm. Its pale yellowish brown body is cylindrical in shape with rather long lateral and sub-spiracular white setae. There are dorso-lateral dark brown markings on a number of body segments. The large head is pale brown with three black roundish markings. The head also bears similar white setae as those on the body.

Newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3mm

The body soon takes on a green undertone after a few feeding sessions on the leaf. Its movement on leaf was observed to be rather quick-paced. By the time the caterpillar lies dormant for its moult to the 2nd instar, its length has reached 4.5mm. The 1st instar takes a total of 2.5-3.0 days to complete.

1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 4.5mm

Top: late 1st instar caterpillar prior to its moult. Bottom: newly moulted 2nd instar caterpillar.

The body of the 2nd instar caterpillar is yellowish green and has prominent black dorso-lateral patches on the thoracic segments, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th abdominal segments. The black marking on the 10th segment form a black stripe across the dorsum. There is a pair of faint yellowish dorsal bands and faint obligue markings between the black spots. The head is pale orange with two rows of black spots. This instar lasts about 3-4 days with the body length reaching about 9mm.

2nd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 6.5mm

2nd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 8mm.

The 3nd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely in markings and coloration. The dorsal bands and dorso-lateral bands/stripes are more prominent now, yellowish in abdominal segments and becoming whitish in the thorac segments. This instar lasts a total of 3-4 days with the body length reaching about 14mm.

3rd instar caterpillar, length: 11.5mm.

3rd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 13.8mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the 3rd instar caterpillar closely but has additional black spots/markings appearing between the yellowish/whitish dorsal and dorso-lateral bands. Both the body and the head sport numerous short setae. This instar lasts 3-4 days with the body length reaching up to 25mm.

4th instar caterpillar, length: 24mm.

4th instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 23mm

The 5th instar caterpillar has larger and very prominent black spots and markings on all body segments. With more black patches filling in the spaces between the whitish/yellowish dorsal and dorso-lateral bands, it gives the impression of large saddle patches, one to each segment, being traversed and criss-crossed by the whitish/yellowish lines. This instar takes about 6-7 days to complete with the body length reaching 40mm.

A newly moulted 5th instar caterpillar, length: 23mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 35mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 40mm

Towards the end of 5th instar, the body of the caterpillar shortens gradually and its body base colour decolorised to a shade of beige with pink tinge between the black spots. It then stays in its leaf shelter to become a pre-pupatory larva. Within the shelter, the pre-pupa prepares for the pupal phase with a series of silk construction work with the main pieces being a silk girdle across the dorsum of its anterior abdominal segments, and a short and thickened transverse silk band on the substrate near its posterior end. Both the dorsal point of the girdle and the transverse band are further secured by vertical/oblique threads to the inner wall of the shelter. Soon the pre-pupa becomes dormant in its leaf shelter and enters the prepupatory phase which lasts for about 0.5 to 1 day.

A final instar caterpillar of the Orange Awlet eating away on a nearly defoliated branch in the nature reserve.

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Orange Awlet.

Pupation takes place within the leaf shelter. The pupa is secured with its cremaster attached to the short transverse band on the substrate and has a silk girdle. It has a short thorax, a rather long abdomen, a short and pointed rostrum. The body is initially orangy with reddish patches and large black spots. However all these markings fade away after a day and the base color becomes a uniform pale milky yellow. The body becomes coated in a thin layer of whitish powerdery substance. There is a series of small dorso-lateral black spots on all body segments. Another series lines the leading edge of mesothorax and one solitary spot sits atop the dorsum of mesothorax. Length of pupae: 22-23mm.

An Orange Awlet catarpillar moults to a pupa.

Two views of a pupa of the Orange Awlet

After 8-9 days, the pupa becomes mostly black in color in the wing pads and parts of the body segments, signally the end of development of the adult lying within. Eclosion takes place the next day.

Two views of a mature pupa of the Orange Awlet.

A newly eclosed Orange Awlet.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, Khew S.K., Ink On Paper Communications, 2010.

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Loke PF, Sunny Chir and Horace Tan

Butterfly Portraits - Yellow Flash

2011-11-30T20:00:00.027+08:00

Butterfly Portraits
The Yellow Flash (Rapala domitia domitia)

Nikon D700 ; Nikkor 105mm micro with TC III 2.0x, Manual Mode, 1/90s, f/6.3, ISO 800, No Flash, Handheld

It was around this time last year that I crossed path with this fast and elusive Lycaenidae - The Yellow Flash. I had encountered this ‘special’ one on a few occasions during that time but couldn’t get a good enough close up shot. This had prompted me to return to the same place every weekend.

It was during one of those weekends that I chanced upon a good opportunity. While I was nearing its usual hangout, I scanned the area attentively and out of the low green foliage I noticed a tiny yellow ‘speck’. This is the familiar yellow ‘speck’ that I have been tracking down during the past weeks. I stopped momentarily, double checked my camera’s setting and proceeded to tread slowly towards it.

From my prior encounters with Yellow Flash, I knew that it was averse to flash and I needed to approach it in ‘stealth’ mode so as not to spook it off. As the subject was perched amongst very low leaves, I needed to be in prone position way before the safety distance. And soon enough I was down on the ground crawling my way towards it like a caterpillar.

As I wobbled myself towards the subject, I took some shots along the way. Surprisingly, this yellow character seemed to be oblivious to my presence as it stood there, perched proudly on the leaf. Soon, I was near enough to have 3/4 of my viewfinder filled up by the subject. More shots were fired away to capture this special and rare species.

Since picking up butterfly photography 2 years ago, I have made many new friends. And through them I have learnt a lot about butterfly behavioural habits and patterns to really appreciate these marvels of nature. ButterflyCircle members' willingness to share and guide has greatly enhanced the learning experience, from the technical details of photography to the behavioural aspects of these wonderful Flying Jewels. Butterfly photography is all about perseverance, observance and patience and literally to “put your chest on the ground” to get that shot.

ButterflyCircle Photographer : Nelson Ong in his early 40's, working in the finance industry

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks

2011-11-27T20:18:00.001+08:00

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks
Featuring : Tampines Eco Green

Tampines Eco Green is a 36.5 Ha urban park that was recently opened in early April 2011. It is situated at the fringe of Tampines Town at the north-eastern part of Singapore. The park is bounded by Tampines Expressway, Tampines Avenue 12 and Sungei Tampines canal.

Tampines Eco Green is a haven for biodiversity and has various natural habitats such as marshes, secondary rainforests, open grasslands and freshwater ponds. The features in the ecologically-themed park include a viewing platform, an eco-toilet, vegetated bioswales, bird hides, and green roofs on all the rest shelters and toilet. A unique feature of the park is the wide Zoysia grass main trails that is easy on the feet and suitable for visitors of all ages.

A typical bioswale drainage at the park

NParks and the consultants involved in the park should be commended for making every attempt to design eco-friendly features in the park. Whilst areas were cleared and additional landscaping and amenities added, this park is an excellent example of leaving large parts of the site 'natural' and no attempt was made to remove the natural flora on site.

So a visitor can encounter areas which appear rather "unkempt" with uncontrolled growth of Lallang, wild weeds, exotic tree species like Acacia auriculiformis.and so on.

All park furniture such as the signage, benches, bird hides, earth mounds and hedges were designed using recycled materials and environmentally-friendly labelled products.

Every attempt was also made to harmonise signage, seats and other park paraphernalia to appear like natural objects in the park.

The main sign - Tampines Eco Green fronting the primary access to the site off Tampines Ave 9 is made from recycled wood.

Having large water bodies and luxuriant greenery, the park is home to many dragonflies, butterflies and birds. In various parts of the park, areas are left waterlogged and submerged, with snags, or dead trees and branches emerging from the water.

A bird-watching hide made of dead twigs and branches

These perches are favourites amongst the bird photographers, who lay in wait for a perfect shot of some of the birds that abound in the park.

Signage is ample around the park, and it is unlikely that anyone would get lost in this urban 'jungle'. Paths are clearly marked and safe, and forks and junctions along the main trail have directional signs to point visitors to other areas and features in the park.

A view towards the main entrance to the park

The managed planting of some flowering plants and butterfly-attracting plants like Crotalaria and Leea rubra has helped sustain a good population of species at Tampines Eco Green.

Two Silverline species at one go!

Amongst the more spectacular ones are the Lycaenidae from the Spindasis genus. Both the Silverlines - the Long-Banded and Club Silverlines, can be found here. At times, up to even a half a dozen of these pretty hairstreaks can be found on the ruby-red flowers of the Leea rubra bushes!

A Pea Blue on the flower of the Crotalaria

Closer to the secondary forested areas, vines of the Stinking Passionflower (Passiflora foetida) can be found. This explains the presence of two of our 'foreign talent' species, the Tawny Coster and the Leopard Lacewing, being spotted at this park.

Other species are more of the urban butterflies and those that feed on the monocotyledonous plants. Examples are the Satyrinaes and Hesperiinaes. With the ample supply of Leguminosae plants like Mimosa spp and Paraserianthes (Albizia), the park's resident Grass Yellows are quite evident as they flutter amongst the wild flowers on a hot sunny day.

And so we have another new destination in eastern Singapore for close encounters with nature, a peaceful walk to enjoy quality time with family members or a jog in the park to keep up with a healthy lifestyle.

How to get there :
There are several bus services that bring visitors to the bus stops along Tampines Ave 9. For those taking the MRT, alight at Tampines MRT station and it's a 20 minute walk to Tampines Eco Green. Drivers can park at Tampines Housing Estate Block 408, 409, 412,413 and 414, where parking is free on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Map of Tampines Eco Green. The blue dot shows the main entrance

The initial base checklist of butterflies at Tampines Eco Green is as follows :

Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus)
Common Mime (Chilasa clytia clytia)
Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus)
Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon luctatius)
Lemon Emigrant (Catopsilia pomona pomona)
Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla cornelia)
Mottled Emigrant (Catopsilia pyranthe pyranthe)
Striped Albatross (Appias libythea olferna)
Psyche (Leptosia nina malayana)
Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metarete)
Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe contubernalis)
Chocolate Grass Yellow (Eurema sari sodalis)
Black Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus hegesippus)
Dark Glassy Tiger (Parantica agleoides agleoides)
Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra agina)
Nigger (Orsotriaena medus cinerea)
Dark Brand Bush Brown (Mycalesis mineus macromalayana)
Chocolate Pansy (Junonia hedonia ida)
Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya wallacei)
Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana javana)
Tawny Coster (Acreae violae)
Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa)
Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus)
Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus goberus)
Club Silverline (Spindasis syama terana)
Long Banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita senama)
Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus)
Bush Hopper (Ampittia dioscorides camertes)
Palm Bob (Suatus gremius gremius)
Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha)
Palm Dart (Telicota augias augias)

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Chng CK, Loke PF, Khew SK, Jonathan Soong, Mark Wong & Zhuang YY

Life History of the Lime Butterfly v2.0

2011-11-19T17:40:00.001+08:00

Life History of the Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus)
An earlier version of the life history of the Lime Butterfly can be found by clicking this link.

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758
Species: demoleus Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: malayanus Wallace, 1865
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 60-80mm

Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Citrus microcarpa (Rutaceae), Citrus maxima (Rutaceae, common name: Pomelo), Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae, common name: Lime) and other Citrus spp., Ruta graveolens (Rutaceae, common name: Herb-of-grace).

A male Lime Butterfly.

A female Lime Butterfly.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, both sexes are black with yellow spots and markings, some of which forming an irregular and intermittent macular band running across the forewing to the mid-dorsum of the hindwing. A submarginal series of smaller yellow spots can be found on both wings. In space 1b on the hindwing, there is a red spot in both sexes. In the male, this spot is capped with a narrow blue lunule with a very narrow intervening black gap. In contrast, the red spot and the blue lunule in the female have a rather large black spot between them. Underneath, both sexes are mostly yellow with black streaks and irregularly-shaped spots. On the hindwing, several black spots are lined with blue striae. There is a series of orange post-discal bars on both hind- and forewings.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

Lime Butterfly is rather common in Singapore and can be found in both forested and urban areas in Singapore. The fast flying adults are frequently seen in flights in and around residential areas, often visiting flowers growing in gardens and potted plants in common areas outside houses/flats. The females can also be seen making ovipoisiting visits to the many Citrus plants, cultivated or wild, in the residential neighbourhood. The hyper-active adults are easier to approach for photographic captures during the cooler hours in the morning and late afternoon, when they retire to rest among the foliage.

Early Stages:

The local host plants include a number of species in the Rutaceae family, with majority belonging to the Citrus genus. The caterpillars of the Lime Butterfly feed on the young to middle-aged leaves of the host plants.

Host plant : Citrus aurantifolia.

A mating pair of the Lime Butterfly.

The eggs of the Lime Butterfly are laid singly on the young stem, the petiole or the underside of leaves of the host plant. The egg is pale creamy yellow with a finely roughened surface. It is nearly spherical with a diameter of about 1.1-1.2mm.

A mother Lime Butterfly about to oviposit on a lime plant.

Two views of an egg of Lime Butterfly, diameter: 1.1-1.2mm

Two views of a mature egg of the Lime Butterfly.

The egg takes about 2.5-3 days to hatch. The young caterpillar eats its way out of the mature egg, and then proceeds to finish up the rest of the egg shell. The newly hatched has a body length of about 2.75mm and has a rather spiky appearance caused by bands of spiky processes which are longer dorso-laterally and much shorter laterally. Overall the body is yellowish brown dorsally and darker brown laterally. The head is dark brown.

Two views of a new hatched caterpillar nibbling at the egg shell.

The first 4 instars of the Lime Butterfly resemble bird droppings with the resemblance in the 3rd and 4th instars being closer due to the body taking on a slimy appearance. As the 1st instar caterpillar grows up to a length of about 5mm, the whitish saddle patch on the 3rd-4th abdominal segments become more evident. After about 2.5-3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 4.8mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a similar appearance to the late 1st instarcaterpillar except for the more prominent whitish saddle. As the caterpillar grows, small whitish patches appear laterally on the first two thoracic segments. This instar lasts about 2 days with the body length reaching up to 10mm before the next moult.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 4mm

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 7mm

The 3rd instar caterpillar has whitish lateral patches on the anterior and posterior body segments. The white saddle is more extensive and prominent than in the two previous instars. This instar takes about 2 days to complete with the body length reaching up to 16mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 10.5mm

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 16mm

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the late 3rd instar caterpillar initially but with a more slimy appearance and a ground colour which is in darker brown. This penultimate instar lasts about 2-2.5 days with body length reaching about 25mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 15.5mm

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 25mm

The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar with a drastic change in appearance. There are two lateral eye spots near the leading edge of the third thoracic segment with a milky brown transverse band linking them. Another transverse band can be found at the posterior edge of the same body segment. A long oblique bar, dark brown in colour, stretches from the base of the 4th abdominal segment to the dorsum of the 5th abdominal segment. A much shorter bar can be found in the 6th abdominal segment. Round dorso-lateral marks, variable in size, can be found on the 6th to the 8th abdominal segments. After the moult to 5th instar, the body ground color is initially mottled yellowish green, but this changes gradually to a uniform green or yellowish green after about 0.5 day.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, freshly moulted, length: 23mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 41mm

Two views of another 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 39mm

As in thecase of all Swallowtail butterflies, the Lime Butterfly caterpillars inall instars possess a fleshy organ called osmeterium in the prothoracic segment. Usually hidden, the osmeterium can be everted to emit afoul-smelling secretion when the caterpillar is threatened.

The 5th instar lasts for about 3.5-4 days, and the body length reaches up to 41mm. Toward the end of this instar, the body gradually shortens in length. Eventually the caterpillar comes to rest on the under surface of a stem or a leaf. Here it stays dormant for a while before performing a purge of loose and wet frass pellets. It then spins a silk pad and a silk girdle to become an immobile pre-pupatory larva.

A pre-pupatory larva of the Lime Butterfly.

A Lime Butterfly caterpillar molts to its pupal stage.

Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa suspends itself with a silk girdle from the substrate. There are two color forms. In the green form, the pupa is is mainly green with a large yellowish diamond-shaped patch on the dorsum of the abdominal segments.. In the brown form, the pupa is mainly greyish brown with dark patches. Each pupa has a pair of cephalic horns, a dorsal thoracic hump and is angled in side view. Length of pupae: 30-32mm.

Two views of a Lime Butterfly pupa, brown form.

Two views of a Lime Butterfly pupa, green form.

After 9 days of development, the pupa turns black as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The yellowish spots and band on the forewing becomes visible through the pupal case. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case. The beautiful undersides of its wings are fully displayed as it dries its wings for the first one to two hours after eclosion.

Two views of a mature pupa.

A Lime Butterfly adult emerges from its pupal case.

A newly eclosed Lime Butterfly clinging onto its pupal case.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Tan Keyang, Bobby Mun, Loke PF, Sunny Chir, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Butterfly of the Month - November 2011

2011-11-12T20:55:00.001+08:00

Butterfly of the Month - November 2011
The Malayan Bush Brown (Mycalesis fusca fusca)

The month of November is the 11th month in the Gregorian calendar, although its original name in Latin, novem, means nine, as it was the ninth month of the Roman calendar. The two Zodiac signs of Scorpio and Saggitarius fall in the month of November.

In western traditions, the premier holiday of November is Thanksgiving. It is held on the 4th Thursday in November. The first Thanksgiving was given by the pilgrims in 1623. It did not become an official holiday until President Lincoln declared it in 1863. The holiday was created to give thanks for the plenty of the harvest. Today it is celebrated by family gatherings.

Over in Asia, the Muslim community celebrated Hari Raya Haji on 7 Nov this year. Hari Raya means festival, while Haji simply means that of pilgrim, or pilgrimage. This is the day when Muslim pilgrims from all over the world end their journey to the sacred Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Fellow Muslims celebrate and honour those who have successfully completed this long and hard pilgrimage.

The month of November in 2011 is special for the unique date of 11 November 2011 or written in short, "11-11-11". This comes once in a lifetime for most of us, and it is a special date on which many couples tie the knot. Geomancers claim that the string of 11's signify a date of good fortune and is an auspicious date for significant milestones in one's life, like marriage, moving house or having a ground breaking ceremony for projects.

The birthstone for November is the topaz. Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces. Orange topaz, also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship.

Who first comes to this world below
In drear November's fog and snow,
Should prize the topaz's amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.
- Gregorian Birthstone Poems

Our Butterfly of the Month for November is the Malayan Bush Brown (Mycalesis fusca fusca). The butterfly belongs to the genus Mycalesis which is often referred to as "Bush Browns". The species of this genus is characterised by the evenly rounded wings, usually a drab brown and the undersides featuring a series of ocelli with usually a post-discal band across both wings.

Many species of the Bush Browns are common, but irritatingly similar in appearance, making field identification challenging at times. They are low-flying butterflies and stop to perch on grasses and leaves with their wings folded upright. They prefer shady spots and fly amongst the forest undergrowth. In the early hours of the morning, some individuals can be spotted opening their wings flat to sunbathe.

The Malayan Bush Brown is essentially a forest butterfly and is found in areas along the fringes of the nature reserves amongst grasses and low bushes. In the vicinity of its host plant, Scleria bancana, a long grass, several individuals can often be found, flitting from perch to perch at low level and frolicking with each other.

The species is the most distinctive of the genus Mycalesis found in Singapore due to its orange-brown colour with a pair of reddish-brown longitudinal stripes on both wings. The orange submarginal ocelli are not ringed with white. On the upperside, the male is brown, with obscure ocelli, whilst the larger female has rounded forewings and is generally paler.

The caterpillar is known to feed on the Cyperaceae grass called Scleria bancana a tall grass that is relatively common in many parts of the nature reserves and even in urban parks. The life history is recorded in detail on this blog here.

So as we look forward to December and the festivities, holidays and Christmas, let us spare a thought for the less fortunate amongst the people of the world, and say a lil' prayer for one and all for global peace. :)

Text by Khew SK ; Photos by Sunny Chir, Khew SK, Koh CH, Loke PF, Jonathan Soong, Ellen Tan, Horace Tan, Tan BJ & Zhuang YY

Life History of the Singapore Four-Line Blue

2011-11-05T20:31:00.002+08:00

Life History of the Singapore Four-Line Blue (Nacaduba pavana singapura)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Nacaduba Moore, 1881
Species: pavana Horsfield, 1828
Subspecies: singapura Corbet, 1938
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 26-30mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Derris trifoliata (Leguminosae), Andira inermis (Leguminosae), Allophylus cobbe (Sapindaceae)

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

As a member of the pavana group (the Four-Line Blues), the adult does not have a basal pair of lines in the underside forewing cell. Above, the male is greyish blue with a thread-thin border; the female is brown with a pale blue discal patch on the forewing and blue dusting on the basal part of the hindwing. Underneath, both sexes are greyish brown with the bands (post-discal, discal and basal) composed of a double series of whitish striae inwardly lined with darker lines with the space between them appear to be paler than the ground colour. On each hindwing, there is an orange-crowned tornal spot lightly speckled with bluish-green metalic scaling. Next to the tornal spot, a pair of filamentous white-tipped tails occurs at end of vein 2. Marginal and submarginal spots are black and stand out against the ground color of greyish brown.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

Early researchers for butterflies in the Malay Peninsula from the 60s and 70s [C&P4] noted that Nacaduba pavana "is seldom seen except in Singapore, where it is sometimes quite common on the landward edge of mangrove swamps." This observation still holds true today as recent sightings of this species have been confined to the northern and north-western corner of the Singapore island in an area covering Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Kranji Nature Trail and the Mandai Mangrove. The adults have been seen flying in the vicinity of their host plants, which are common in these habitats, visiting flowering plants, puddling on wet ground and performing oviposition rituals.

A female laying an egg on a young leaf of Derris trifoliata.

Another female ovipositing on a young leaf of Allophylus cobbe.

Early Stages:

The Singapore Four-Line Blue is polyphagous and so far three plant species found in the back mangrove habitats have been recorded as its host plants. The caterpillars feed on young and tender leaves and sometimes young shoots of these plants. As in the case for most lycaenidae species, the caterpillars of the Singapore Four-Line Blue are typically tended by a number of ant species.

Local host plant #1: Andira inermis.

Local host plant #2: Allophylus cobbe.

A mother ovipositing on a cluster of flower buds of Derris trifoliata.

Another mother ovipositing on the young shoot of Andira inermis.

Eggs are laid on the young shoots or inflorescence of the host plants. It is not uncommon for a number of eggs to be found in close proximity on the same shoot, however the eggs occur singly rather than in clusters. Each egg is pale yellowish green, discoid and has a depressed micropylar on top. The egg surface is finely reticulated, slightly raised at the intersections of criss-crossing ridges. Th egg has a diameter of about 0.4-0.45mm.

Eggs on young shoot of Andira inermis with a 1st instar caterpillar nearby.

Two views of an egg of the Singapore Four-Line Blue. Diameter: 0.4mm.

It takes about 2 days for the egg to hatch. The young caterpillar consumes part of the egg shell to emerge. With a length of about 0.7-0.8mm, it has a pale yellowish body with long setae (hairs) dorsally and sub-spiracularly. The caterpillar assumes the typical woodlouse body shape as it grows. The body color changes gradually to a brighter shade of yellow or red depending on the color form the caterpillar assumes. The first instar lasts for 1.5-2 days and the body length reaches about 1.8mm before the moult to the 2nd instar. A faint reddish brown patch appears on the dorsum of the 7th-9th abdominal segment towards the end of the first instar.

Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar, length: 0.8mm.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 1.8mm.

A red-form 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage.

The long dorsal setae are absent in the 2nd instar caterpillar but now there are numerous short setae present all over the body surface. The body color is mainly yellow with a greenish undertone or mainly red. A large, diffused, bright red to reddish brown patch occurs on the dorsum stretching from the 7th to the 9th abdominal segments in both color forms. The 2nd instar lasts for 1.5-2 days and the caterpillar grows to a length of about 3.5mm to 4mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, freshly moulted to this instar, length: 4mm.

A red-form 2nd instar caterpillar.

A field shot of caterpillars of Singapore Four-Line Blue on a young shoot with ants in attendance,
How many caterpillars can you see?

The 3rd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely but with the dorsal patch on the 7th to 9th abdominal segments much more prominent. In some specimens, faint intermittent markings in red to reddish brown also appear dorso-laterally, and on the dorsum of the 2nd thoracic segment. After 2 days in this stage with the body length reaching a maximum about 6.5mm, the next moult brings the caterpillar to its final instar.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage.

Two views of another 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 6mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult.

A 3rd instar caterpillar with an attending ant in the field.

The 4th instar caterpillar are similar to the 3rd instar caterpillar but with all red and reddish brown markings much more prominently marked and in sharp contrast to the ground color. The prothorcic shield is whitish and the dorsal nectary organ and ventacular organs are distinguishable on the posterior segments.

Two views of a red-form 4th instar caterpillar, length: 8.5mm.

Two views of a yellow-form 4th instar caterpillar, length: 12mm.

The 4th instar lasts for 2-3 days and the body grows up to a length of about 12mm. On the last day of this stage, the caterpillar ceases food intake and its body shrinks in length and decolorises to a dull shade of pale brown. The fully grown caterpillar finally comes to rest on a spot among leaves where it readies the site for pupation by spinning a silk pad and a silk girdle to secure itself.

Two vies of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, with color change taken place, length: 11mm.

Two views of a girdled-down pre-pupa of the Singapore Four-Line Blue

The next day, after 6-7 days of larval growth, pupation finally takes place. The pupa has the typical lycaenid form, and is 8-8.5mm in length. It is mostly yellowish brown and speckled with black spots of various sizes and shapes.

Two views of a pupa of the Singapore Four-Line Blue

Five to six days later, the pupa becomes darkened in color signaling the imminent emergence of the adult. The markings on the forewing upperside becomes increasing obvious through the pupal skin. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the mature pupa.

Two views of a mature male pupa showing the extensive bluish coloration in the wing pad.

Two views of a mature female pupa showing the much less extensive bluish coloration in the wing pad.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Federick Ho, Sunny Chir, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Butterfly Lodge V 2.0

2011-10-29T19:01:00.004+08:00

Butterfly Lodge @ Oh' Farms V 2.0
Bigger, Better, More Butterflies!

Time really flies! It was in Aug 2008 when the Butterfly Lodge at Oh' Farms in Sembawang was first opened for "business". Then intended to be an experimental project to create an educational and butterfly appreciation facility for students and nature lovers, the small butterfly aviary was born.

The flight cage took a simple L-shaped design, with a barrel-vaulted roof. The material for the netting was selected to allow an adequate amount of light to enter the enclosure, but with a mesh that is fine enough to keep the butterflies in, but predators and other vermin out.

The project was successful beyond our imagination, as many classes of primary school kids were educated and entertained with fun knowledge about butterflies. The kids saw for themselves how butterflies survived in the environment, as well as their early stages.

It is hoped that seeds from the lessons on butterfly conservation would have been planted in these young minds so that they too can share their knowledge in future.

The caterpillar breeding efforts by the staff of Oh' Farms also bore fruit, as it became a relatively well-known source for caterpillars and students from various local schools who wanted to study the metamorphosis of butterflies as a science project, often sourced for the caterpillars from Oh' Farms.

Caterpillar kits were sold to the school children with the appropriate host plants. These kits contained primarily the final instar caterpillars so that the kids can enjoy the wonders of seeing the caterpillar turn into a pupa, and then emerge as a beautiful butterfly. The parents of the kids were also briefed to return the eclosed adult butterflies to the wild, or bring them back to the Butterfly Lodge for release.

The educational and conservation efforts continued, with Oh' Farms collaborating with ButterflyCircle, and NParks to try to encourage schools to cultivate the Common Birdwing's host plants in their gardens. This was the "Save the Common Birdwing" project.

After 3 years of operations, and thousands of school children visiting the Butterfly Lodge, the cramped butterfly aviary posed challenges for large classes of children visiting the facility. Very often, the class had to be split into two groups with a short outdoor class 'lecture' whilst the other half of the class would be in the aviary.

The owner of Oh Farms, Yeok Keong, decided to expand the facility to accommodate a larger group of students as well as feature more plants and species of butterflies. The work started some time in Aug 2011, and the new and expanded Butterfly Lodge was completed in Oct.

With a footprint of slight more than double the original size of the Butterfly Lodge, the expanded butterfly aviary was also taller. The concrete paths within the aviary was also made wider to allow for better circulation.

More plants were collected and organised within the butterfly aviary. Amongst some of the new plants were the host plants for the Malayan Eggfly, as well as more variety of nectaring plants.

The all-time favourite, Bidens sp. with its pretty white-and-yellow flowers spread extensively across many of the main planters, supplemented with other types of nectaring plants like the Common Snakeweed, Lantana and so on.

A new addition is a small arch with pretty Honolulu Creeper (Antigonon leptopus) creepers adorning it. I also saw a pot of Pink Snakeweed (Stachytarpeta mutabilis var. mutabilis) and some small shrubs of Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta) with its pretty violet flowers as part of the nectaring buffet for the butterflies.

I visited the new Butterfly Lodge V 2.0 with Federick on a weekend in early October to check it out. We were both pleasantly surprised at the number of butterflies fluttering around in the aviary. It was amazing, considering that out in the wild, it was off-season for butterflies and not many were seen around.

But within the aviary, it was butterfly haven. Flying around were quite a number of species that were recent additions, like the Malayan Eggfly, Pea Blue, Lemon Emigrant and the return of the Blue Pansy which had disappeared for quite some time.

The loftier ceiling height of the new aviary appears to give a better sense of spatiousness and the butterflies also look happier too! It was also slightly easier to photograph the butterflies as there was ample space to compose the subjects with better backgrounds than in the previous cramped aviary.

The Pea Blue - a new addition to Butterfly Lodge

All in all, the expanded Butterfly Lodge is definitely worth another visit. Just standing in there, and watching the gentle and beautiful flying jewels is very therapeutic.

There are many observations of butterfly behaviour that one can get from watching them fly, frolick with each other, feed, engage in courtship and mating rituals, ovipositing and so on. A wonder of Mother Nature that cannot be expressed in words alone.

Kudos to Yeok Keong and the staff of Oh' Farms for creating the Butterfly Lodge V 2.0 and the hard work of maintaining and sustaining this excellent nature conservation and education facility in Singapore.

Note : Visitors will be charged a nominal entrance fee of S$4 to enjoy the Butterfly Lodge. There is no time limit for your stay there.

Text by Khew SK ; Photos by Chng CK, Khew SK & Bobby Mun

Websites : Oh' Farms & Butterfly Lodge

Life History of the Common Mormon

2011-10-22T16:44:00.001+08:00

Life History of the Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758
Species: polytes Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: romulus Cramer, 1775
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 70-85mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Murraya koenigii (Rutaceae, Common Name: Indian Curry Leaf), Merope angulata (Rutaceae, common name: Mangrove Lime), Citrus maxima (Rutaceae, common name: Pomelo), Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae, common name: Lime) and other Citrus spp.

   A female form -polytes Common Mormon sunbathing on a leaf.

    A male Common Mormon puddling in the western nature reserve.

    A male Common Mormon puddling on damp ground.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the male is black with a band of large whitish yellow spot running across the hindiwng. This band appears to continue to the forewing in the form of several white spots on the distal margin of the forewing. In Singapore, the female appears in two forms: form -polytes which mimics the Common Rose but with an entirely black abdomen; form -cyrus which resembles the male but has a red tornal spot in space 1a of the hindwing. Underneath, the male has a series of yellow to red submarginal lunules on the hindwing, while the female form -polytes again resembling the male and form -cyrus resembling that of the Common Rose. Both sexes have a spatulate tail at vein 4 of the hindwing.

     A female form -polytes Common Mormon visiting a flower.

    A female form -cyrus Common Mormon

    Another puddling male Common Mormon.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
Common Mormon is rather common in Singapore and can be found in both forested and urban areas in Singapore. The fast flying adults visit flowers for energy intakes and the males can be found puddling on damp grounds in their habitat. In urban settings, the adults can be found in housing areas and gardens where Citrus plants are grown.



Early Stages:
The local host plants include the Indian Curry Leaf plant and various Citrus spp. One notable addition is the Mangrove Lime (Merope angulata) which was found to be utilized as larval host plant by members of the Plant Systematics group of the Department of Biological Sciences (NUS) in the recent past. The caterpillars of the Common Mime feed on the young to middle-aged leaves of the host plants.


    Host plant : Citrus maxima. Left: Young leaves and mature leaves. Right: a Pomelo fruit.


      A mating pair of the Common Mormon with the female giving us a full view of its upperside.

The eggs of the Common Mormon are laid singly on the young stem, the petiole or the underside of leaves of the host plant. The egg is pale creamy yellow with a finely roughened surface. It is nearly spherical with a diameter of about 1.2mm.

      A mother Common Mormon about to oviposit on a lime plant.

     Two views of an egg of Common Mormon, diameter: 1.2mm


     Two views of a mature egg, giving a faint front view of the head of the caterpillar.

The egg takes about 3 days to mature. The young caterpillar eats its way out of the mature egg, and then proceeds to finish up the rest of the egg shell. The newly hatched has a rather spiky appearance, and an initial body length of about 3mm. It is yellowish brown dorsally and dark brown laterally,

     Two views of a newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3mm

     Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3.6mm

In the first 4 instars, the Common Mormon caterpillars resemble bird droppings as they rest on the leaves. The resemblance in the 3rd and 4th instars are stronger with the body also assuming a slimy appearance. As the 1st instar caterpillar grows up to a length of about 5-6mm, the dorsal and dorso-lateral whitish patch at the posterior segments become more prominent. There is a faint whitish saddle on the 3rd-4th abdominal segments. After about 3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.

     Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 4.8mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a similar appearance to the late 1st instar caterpillar except for the more distinctly white markings on the middle and posterior body segments, and traces of white on anterior segments. This instar lasts 2-3 days with the body length reaching about 10mm before the next moult.

     Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 5.2mm

     Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 9.5mm.

The newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar bears no drastic change in physical appearance except for more dark brown to black patches appearing on the mottled body, and the more prominent white saddle mark. This instar takes about 2.5-3 days to complete with the body length reaching up to 16mm.

     Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 12.5mm.

     Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 16mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the late 3rd instar caterpillar initially but with a more slimy appearance and stronger green undertone. As growth proceeds, the cryptic markings of light to dark green intermingled with white streaks becomes increasing mottled. This instar lasts about 2-3 days with body length reaching about 25-26mm.

     A 3rd (left) and a 4th (right) instar caterpillar found on a Lime plant in a garden.

     Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 21mm

     Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 26mm

The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar with a drastic change in appearance. After the moult to 5th instar, the body ground color is initially mottled green, but this changes gradually to the characteristic smooth green color after 1 day.

    Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 30mm.

     Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 36mm

The eye spots on the 3rd thoracic segment are connected by a transverse green dorsal band with sinuous markings. A similar band occurs between the 3rd thoracic and the 1st abdominal segments, and features pale purplish bluish gaps between the sinuous markings. The first oblique bars, one on each side, run from the base of abdominal segment 3 to the top of segment 4. The second oblique bars is much shorter and occur at the two sides of abdominal segment 5.

     Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 45mm

As in the case of all Swallowtail butterflies, the Common Mormon caterpillars in all instars possess a fleshy organ called osmeterium in the prothoracic segment. Usually hidden, the osmeterium can be everted to emit a foul-smelling secretion when the caterpillar is threatened.

A Common Mormon caterpillar everting its osmeterium.

The 5th instar lasts for 5-6 days, and the body length reaches up to 45-46mm. Toward the end of this instar, the body gradually shortens in length. Eventually the caterpillar comes to rest on the lower surface of a stem and becomes a pre-pupatory larva.

A pre-pupatory larva of the Common Mormon.

A Common Mormon caterpillar molts to its pupal stage.

Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa suspends itself with a silk girdle from the stem. There are two color forms. In the green form, the pupa is is mainly green with a large yellowish diamond-shaped on the dorsum of the abdominal segments.. In the brown form, the pupa is manly greyish to darker shades of brown. Each pupa has a pair of cephalic horns, a dorsal thoracic hump and is angled in side view. Length of pupae: 31-32mm.

Two views of a Common Mormon pupa.

A mature pupa of the Common Mormon.

After 8 days of development, the pupa turns black as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case. The beautiful undersides of its wings are fully displayed as it dries its wings for the first few hours after eclosion.

A newly eclosed female Common Mormon clinging on to its empty pupal case

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Benjamin Yam, James Chia, Benedict Tay, Ellen Tan, Nelson Ong, Bobby Mun, Anthony Wong, Federick Ho, Sunny Chir and Horace Tan

Butterfly of the Month - October 2011

2011-10-15T11:47:00.000+08:00

Butterfly of the Month - October 2011
The Apefly (Spalgis epius epius)

And here we are, halfway into the tenth month of 2011. October is one of the long months of the year, with 31 days. China celebrates its National Day, with extended long holidays and celebrations. The country's development pace has been amazing, over the past two decades, and on its way to becoming an economic powerhouse to rival the traditional leaders of the western nations. Even as the US and Europe struggle with their domestic financial woes, China and Asia grow from strength to strength.

A large part of October also belongs to the Librans - those born under the horoscope of the sign of the scales. Placed as one of the air signs, Librans tend to be more compatible with those born under Gemini and Aquarius.

On Oct 5, the world lost a visionary, a tech genius and a pioneer - perhaps one of the foremost— in the field of business, innovation, and product design, and a man who had profoundly changed the face of the modern world - Steve Jobs. The man who gave us the Mac, Apple, iPod, iPhone and iPad - devices that changed the way people communicated and revolutionalised the IT world and our lifestyle.

The birthstone for October is the opal. It is an amorphous form of silica, of which 3% to 21% its total weight is water. The stone comes in a very wide range of colours, ranging from milky white to blues, greens and reds. The opal is Australia's national stone, and from where nearly 97% of the world's supply of the stone comes.

October's child is born for woe,
And life's vicissitudes must know,

But lay an opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.
- Gregorian Birthstone Poems

This month, we feature the diminutive Miletinae species, the Apefly (Spalgis epius epius). This butterfly has a curious name, for the adult of the Apefly bears no simian resemblance whatsoever. The common English name, however, probably comes from the pupa's resemblance to the face of an ape! (Can you see the face of an ape in the photo of the pupa below?)

The Apefly belongs to the family Lycaenidae, subfamily Miletinae, which is known by its collective name of the Harvesters. The caterpillars of this subfamily are 'carnivorous' and feed on a variety of Homoptera like aphids, coccids and mealy bugs. (See earlier blog article on Mergers, Partnerships & Betrayals)

The Apefly has dark brown wings above and unmarked, except for a whitish discal patch, which is larger in the female. The underside is grayish buff, with numbers dark striations with a clearly defined brown-edged white spot at the cell end of the forewing. It has yellow-green eyes and long pointed palpi. Males have more pointed forewings than the females.

An amusing face shot of the Apefly showing its green eyes

It has a stronger flight than many of the other species in the subfamily, and on occasion, persistently returns to a few favoured perches despite being disturbed.

At times, it flies erratically non-stop for long periods of time without stopping, a behaviour that is often observed in the other species of the Miletinae.

The Apefly has red banded legs, and from field observations, although it has six fully-developed legs to stand on, it often perches with only four legs, preferring to fold up its front legs tightly against its body. But there are definitely instances when all six legs are extended as it perches.

The antennae are short, robust and stubby, with a distinctly strong orange tip at the clubbed end. The palpi are long and sharp and gives a distinct look to the Apefly.

And so, let's enjoy the remainder of the 10th month of 2011 with an interesting read about the diminutive and interesting Apefly, a species that is moderately common in Singapore, and that an observant naturalist is likely to encounter from time to time in the field.

Text bt Khew SK ; Photos by James Chia, Khew SK, Loke PF, Nelson Ong, Tan CP, Tan BJ, Mark Wong & Benjamin Yam

Life History of the Aberrant Oakblue

2011-10-08T13:47:00.000+08:00

Life History of the Aberrant Oakblue (Arhopala abseus abseus)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Arhopala Biosduval 1832
Species: abseus Hewitson 1862
Subspecies: abseus Hewitson 1862
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 28-30mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Hopea pachycarpa (Dipterocarpaceae), Hopea odorata (Dipterocarpaceae).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
The Aberrant Oakblue differs from other Arhopala spp. in having a short tail at the end of vein 3 of the hindwing, and a very short vein 9 in the forewing. Both features suggest that Aberrant Oakblue is more closely related to the Flos spp. than its placement in the Arhopala genus would otherwise suggest. Above, the male is deep violet blue with a dark forewing border expanding towards the apex (where it is about 4.0mm wide); the female is shining blue with broader borders. Below, the wings bear cryptic markings with most spots in blackish brown. Pristine specimens carry a strong purplish sheen in the discal area on the hindwing and white shadings in the forewing's apical and subapical areas. Most specimens feature a moderately large white spot at the mid-costal margin of the hindwing. Also on the hindwings, short white-tipped tails are found at the end of veins 1b and 3, and a moderately long white-tipped tail at the end of vein 2. The compound eyes are dark yellow brown.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
In Singapore, the Aberrant Oakblue is not considered rare and adults can be found in the shaded forested areas within the nature reserves, Southern Ridges, Singapore Botanical Gardens and other wooded areas scattered across the island. They have a strong quick flight and are easily spooked by "overzealous" photographers. They typically rest in the shade among the foliage with upright wings.

Local host plant #1: Hopea pachycarpa.

Local host plant #2: Hopea odorata.

Early Stages:
Thus far it has been established that Hopea pachycarpa and H. odorata are utilized as larval food plants by the Aberrant Oakblue locally. Both plants are in the Dipterocarpaceae family, members of which are commonly utilized by butterfly species in the Arhopala and Flos genera. There are two other yet-to-be identified host plants in the local catchment reserves, both of which are likely to belong to this plant families as well. The early stages of the Aberrant Oakblue feed on the young tender leaves of the host plants, and often lives in the company of attending ants.

Two eggs of the Aberrant Oakblue.

Eggs are laid singly or in small groups of 2-5 on a young shoot or the underside of a leaf of the host plant. Each egg is about 0.8mm in diameter, white with a very light yellowish green tinge. It is shaped like a pressed bun with a slightly depressed micropylar area atop. The surface has a finely reticulated pattern of intersecting ridges and there are short sharp spikes at the intersections of these ridges.

Two empty egg shells of the Aberrant Oakblue.

It takes about 3 days for the egg to hatch. The newly hatched is pale yellowish in body color and has a length of about 1.3mm. It has a rather flattened woodlouse appearance with a large semicircular prothorax, a round anal plate, a yellowish brown head and long dorso-lateral and lateral setae. There are also a fair number of very short setae on the body surface. The newly hatched does not bother to devour the rest of the egg shell after its emergence.

Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar, length: 1.3mm.

Two views of 1st instar caterpillar, length: 1.9mm.

The 1st instar caterpillar feeds by skimming the surface of a young leaf, but later instars are able to consume the lamina in whole. Larval stages of the Aberrant Oakblue are gregarious and a few caterpillars have been observed in the field sharing a leaf shelter and adjacent feeding site with no animosity towards each other. As the 1st instar caterpillar grows, its body color becomes more yellowish green. A faint pinky red patch appears on the posterior abdominal segments. After about 2 days of growth, and reaching a length of about 2.5mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 2.2mm.

The 2nd instar caterpillar features long lateral hairs and a yellowish brown head. Long dorso-lateral setae are no longer present, but many very short setae appear on the entire body surface. A pair of faint dorso-lateral line runs along the length of the body. The prothorax is marked by a large yellowish brown patch. The dorsal nectary organ (DNO) is already visible on the 7th abdominal segment and highlighted with a small dark reddish patch stretching to the 8th segment. A rather large anal plate, black in color, dominates the remaining posterior segments. The pair of the tentacular organs (TOs) on the 8th abdominal segments are also distinguishable at this stage.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 2.5mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, dormant prior to its next moult, length: 3.2mm.

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a functional DNO as ants living in its proximity are observed to actively attend to the young caterpillars, having been attracted to the nectary fluid excreted via the DNO. The ant-caterpillar association continues for all remaining larval stages of the Aberrant Oakblue. The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches a length of about 4mm, and after about 2-3 days in this stage, it moults again.

A late 2nd instar caterpillar (right) and a newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar (left) of the Aberrant Oakblue.

The 3rd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely. New to this instar is a very large black prothoracic shield and a slightly smaller black anal plate. The DNO is now rather prominent with an dark brown oval ring marking its outer boundary. Faint dorsal and dorso-lateral bands are apparent at this stage too. The 3rd instar takes about 3 days to complete with the body length reaching about 6.5mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 4mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 4.9mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar has similar markings as the 3rd instar. One notable change is in the prothoracic dark patch which now has two small white patches embedded at its posterior, and one small white patch at its anterior edge. The dorsal and dorso-lateral bands are now more pronounced than in the previous instar. This penultimate istar takes about 4-5 days to complete with the body length reaching 10mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 7.3mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, dormant prior to its moult, length: 9.5mm.

The 5th instar caterpillar has similar but more striking markings. Visible changes are 1) a white intermittent line running down the middle of the dark patch on the prothorax; 2) both the dark patch on the prothorax and the anal plate are now flanked by white borders. Another change is in the dark patch stretching from the DNO to the anal plate where there are two side-arms reaching and encircling the TOs on the 8th abdominal segment.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 12mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, later in this stage, length: 17mm.

The 5th instar lasts for about 8-9 days and in the last three days of this period, the body of the caterpillar decolorises to a creamy white shade. It continues feeding in this form until the end of the instar.

Two late 5th instar caterpillar in white form, length: 18mm.

After reaching a length of about 18mm, the caterpillar slows down and stops food intake for about 1 day. During this time, its body length gradually shortened. Soon it becomes an immobile pre-pupa in its leaf shelter.

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Aberrant Oakblue in its shallow leaf shelter.

The pre-pupa caterpillar prepares for pupation by spinning a silk girdle and a silk pad to which it attaches via graspers at its posterior segments. After 1-1.5 day as a immobile pre-pupa, pupation takes place. The pupa, with a length of 11-12mm, has a shape typical of any Lycaenid species, but with a somewhat produced anal segment. It is creamy white in coloration. A small reddish-brown slit, likely the remnant of the DNO, has been found to exude fluid droplets for the first few days of the pupal period. This attracts the ants to attend to the pupa, thus securing some degree of protection from predators or parasitoids.

An Aberrant Oakblue caterpillar molts to become a pupa.

Two views of a pupa of the Aberrant Oakblue, length: 12mm.
.

A sequence showing two caterpillars in various stages of pupation in adjacent sites on the same leaf.

Seven to eight days later, the pupa matures enough to show the shining blue patch on the forewing upperside. The next day, the pupal stage comes to an end with the emergence of the adult butterfly.

Two views of and instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 2.5mm.

A newly eclosed Aberrant Oakblue drying its wings near its empty pupal case.

Unlike most of the Lycaenidae species, the caterpillars of the Aberrant Oakblue have the habit of constructing leaf shelters in which they rest and seek safety between feeds on the lamina of nearby leaves and part of the shelter. Pupation also takes place within a leaf shelter.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar of the Aberrant Oakblue receiving the attention of an ant.

A leaf shelter found in the field. Partly opened in the right panel to show the 5th instar caterpillar and attending ants.
Can you spot the caterpillar?

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Koh Cher Hern, Nelson Ong, Loke PF and Horace Tan