Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum Outing
Sunset from the top of Gunung Raya, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
Recently, I joined a group of professional scientists from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum on a very short weekend outing to Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia. The trip was planned a few months earlier amongst Prof Peter Ng, Head of LKCNHM, Prof Francis Seow-Choen, one of the region's foremost experts on phasmids, and me. Our local 'spider man' Joseph Koh, unfortunately, could not make the trip due to prior commitments.
Our first lunch at Langkawi before heading up to Gunung Raya
We were joined by two other LKCNHM staff, Dr Hwang Wei Song, Curator of Insects & Other Terrestrial Arthropods Collections, and Foo Maosheng, Curator of Tissues in Cryogenic Collection of the museum. We met at the airport for our early morning flight to Langkawi, about 720km away from Singapore, which took us slightly over an hour. Upon arrival and settling our rental car, we took a quick lunch and headed up to Gunung Raya, where our 'home' for the weekend is located - D'Coconut Hill Resort.
Views from 881m above sea level - Gunung Raya. Our hotel, D'Coconut Resort, perches at the peak of the mountain.
The hotel sat right on the top of the highest point in Pulau Langkawi and offered a breathtaking view of the island. The design of the hotel respected the mountain terrain, and getting up to one's room was a challenge in itself, especially with our heavy bags! The only elevator in the hotel chose the "right" time to break down and we were left to make the daily trudge up and down the staircases from our rooms to the main entrance of the hotel.
The environment at Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park
The first afternoon saw us heading down to a familiar place - Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park - a popular picnic spot for the locals and tourists beside a stream. The puddling ground that I remembered when I last visited this spot was inundated and there were few butterflies around. It had rained heavily that morning and the cool atmosphere was not particularly good for butterflies.
Fallen fruits attracted a number of species at Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park
However, some fallen fruits (including a mango-smelling fruit) attracted a number of butterflies like the Archduke, Knight, Banded Marquis, Great Marquis and a number of Satyrinae. The butterflies were particularly skittish and didn't offer much opportunities for good shots.
A Common Red Flash came out to play in the hot evening sun. When we left the park at 5:45pm, a number of them were still dog-fighting amongst the late evening sun's rays
The sun came out by 3pm and shone strongly down on the forested areas at Lubuk Semilang. There was a bit more activity at the forest edge, but alas a bit too late in the afternoon to attract the butterflies out. The LKCNHM team were busy doing their own thing, as the hot humid forest air brought out the late afternoon critters. a sunlit spot, I spotted the familiar Common Red Flash basking in the late afternoon sun, a typical behaviour of this species. It was already almost 6pm as another two male Common Red Flash butterflies came out to frolic when it was time for us to call it a day.
Getting our dinner for the evening at the Night Market. The variety of local hawker food was good!
Dinner was a quick takeaway from the local 'pasar malam' (night market), where the local street food stalls were already doing a brisk business with the local community and tourists. With the 1:3 exchange to the ringgit, everything seems a lot cheaper too! We headed back up to our hotel on Gunung Raya. After dinner, the night surveys started as our phasmid expert went searching for the stick and leaf insects that are more active in the dark.
Early morning views from our hotel. The mist shrouded the top of Gunung Raya till mid-morning.
At 881m above sea level, the summit of Gunung Raya where our hotel sits, is shrouded in the early morning mist. The mist made the forests look sinister in the early morning hours as the chirping of birds and the call of the Banded Leaf Monkeys broke the silence of the dawn. After a sumptuous breakfast, we were all packed and ready to head out again. It was a pleasant coincidence to meet Kazuo Unno, a renowned Japanese nature photographer. I met him some years back in Penang, and it was nice to bump into him at a hotel where we were probably the only guests this weekend!
A male Archduke (Lexias pardalis) puddles on a rocky outcrop
The freshwater crab Stoliczia bella a species that was new to science and first described by Prof Peter Ng, thirty years ago, from Langkawi!
Kazuo-san joined us as we headed back to Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park again. Though it was a Saturday, there were not many local picnickers around. However, tourists from Middle Eastern countries thronged the Recreation Park. Butterfly activity was low, and the same species that I saw the previous day were still around. I encountered a freshwater crab along the footpath, and was pleased to find out later that this species, Stoliczia bella was first found in Langkawi and described by Prof Peter Ng back in 1987 as a species that is new to science!
Familiar species in the shady forested environment at the foot of Telaga Tujuh
We headed out to Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) another area that was familiar hunting ground to me on my previous visits. As soon as we entered the forested paths, we saw a Straight-Banded Catseye (Coelites epiminthia) a species that is often found in the area. The usual Arhopalas and forest habitat species were still around, but not all of them were cooperative and were skittish. By evening, the skies were cloudy and butterfly activity was rather low.
The waterfall at Temurung after a steep climb up
The next morning was our final day on Pulau Langkawi for this very short weekend trip. As we still had about half a day before our evening flight back to Singapore, the team decided to head out to Temurung waterfalls to check out the place. After breakfast, we drove to the north-western coast of Langkawi where Temurung was located. On my previous trip, a visit to the waterfalls proved quite fruitless as the steep terrain made it very difficult to do any butterfly photography.
This visit was not any more successful than my visit to Temurung Waterfalls, although a couple of more cooperative species like a female Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte) and a Clavated Banded Demon (Notocrypta clavata) came out to greet me. A number of other Nymphalidae and Pieridae were fluttering around but the slippery rocks and steep slopes ended any hope of photographing them.
The trail at Kisap which yielded quite a few surprises
We then searched for a location called Kisap (which was recommended by our friend Kazuo-san). After driving around and with the help of our friend Googlemaps, we found a trail at the foothills of Gunung Raya. Besides a large clump of Spanish Needles (Bidens pilosa/alba) which attracted a number of butterflies, the shaded forest understorey also yielded a number of species that I had not spotted at the earlier locations that we explored.
The butterfly diversity had good potential in this area, and it will be a must-visit place on a future trip to Langkawi. I spotted a couple of rare skippers (which were totally uncooperative) and some larger Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae which will be worth investigating in future. The vegetation along the trails probably supported some of the rarer Hesperiidae and Satyrinae that I spotted in that area.
A feast of durians before we depart Langkawi
On our way back to the airport, our resistance to the local durians wore down and we made a beeline to the street-side durian vendor for a quick-fix to our durian cravings. The stall holder told us that these durians came from the state of Kedah and the aroma and flavour is different from the southern variety. Indeed the durians that we sampled tasted very nice and had a special fruity sweetness to it.
Our trusty SilkAir Airbus that brought us home safely
We reached the Langkawi International airport in good time, did our usual check-ins and lazed around in the waiting lounge. Our SilkAir flight was on time, and we were back in Singapore in a flash without any incident. It was an interesting trip although much too rushed, but the company and good food made up for the lack of butterflies.
Text by Khew SK : Photos by Khew SK and Francis Seow-Choen
Special thanks to Prof Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum for arranging this research outing to Langkawi, and the fun company of Francis Seow-Choen, Wei Song and Maosheng (for his patient and careful driving over the 3 days). Thanks also to Kazuo Unno who drove me around and provided a good conversation about butterflies and his exciting adventures all over the world.
Views from 881m above sea level - Gunung Raya. Our hotel, D'Coconut Resort, perches at the peak of the mountain.
The hotel sat right on the top of the highest point in Pulau Langkawi and offered a breathtaking view of the island. The design of the hotel respected the mountain terrain, and getting up to one's room was a challenge in itself, especially with our heavy bags! The only elevator in the hotel chose the "right" time to break down and we were left to make the daily trudge up and down the staircases from our rooms to the main entrance of the hotel.
The environment at Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park
The first afternoon saw us heading down to a familiar place - Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park - a popular picnic spot for the locals and tourists beside a stream. The puddling ground that I remembered when I last visited this spot was inundated and there were few butterflies around. It had rained heavily that morning and the cool atmosphere was not particularly good for butterflies.
Fallen fruits attracted a number of species at Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park
However, some fallen fruits (including a mango-smelling fruit) attracted a number of butterflies like the Archduke, Knight, Banded Marquis, Great Marquis and a number of Satyrinae. The butterflies were particularly skittish and didn't offer much opportunities for good shots.
A Common Red Flash came out to play in the hot evening sun. When we left the park at 5:45pm, a number of them were still dog-fighting amongst the late evening sun's rays
The sun came out by 3pm and shone strongly down on the forested areas at Lubuk Semilang. There was a bit more activity at the forest edge, but alas a bit too late in the afternoon to attract the butterflies out. The LKCNHM team were busy doing their own thing, as the hot humid forest air brought out the late afternoon critters. a sunlit spot, I spotted the familiar Common Red Flash basking in the late afternoon sun, a typical behaviour of this species. It was already almost 6pm as another two male Common Red Flash butterflies came out to frolic when it was time for us to call it a day.
Getting our dinner for the evening at the Night Market. The variety of local hawker food was good!
Dinner was a quick takeaway from the local 'pasar malam' (night market), where the local street food stalls were already doing a brisk business with the local community and tourists. With the 1:3 exchange to the ringgit, everything seems a lot cheaper too! We headed back up to our hotel on Gunung Raya. After dinner, the night surveys started as our phasmid expert went searching for the stick and leaf insects that are more active in the dark.
Early morning views from our hotel. The mist shrouded the top of Gunung Raya till mid-morning.
At 881m above sea level, the summit of Gunung Raya where our hotel sits, is shrouded in the early morning mist. The mist made the forests look sinister in the early morning hours as the chirping of birds and the call of the Banded Leaf Monkeys broke the silence of the dawn. After a sumptuous breakfast, we were all packed and ready to head out again. It was a pleasant coincidence to meet Kazuo Unno, a renowned Japanese nature photographer. I met him some years back in Penang, and it was nice to bump into him at a hotel where we were probably the only guests this weekend!
A male Archduke (Lexias pardalis) puddles on a rocky outcrop
The freshwater crab Stoliczia bella a species that was new to science and first described by Prof Peter Ng, thirty years ago, from Langkawi!
Kazuo-san joined us as we headed back to Lubuk Semilang Recreation Park again. Though it was a Saturday, there were not many local picnickers around. However, tourists from Middle Eastern countries thronged the Recreation Park. Butterfly activity was low, and the same species that I saw the previous day were still around. I encountered a freshwater crab along the footpath, and was pleased to find out later that this species, Stoliczia bella was first found in Langkawi and described by Prof Peter Ng back in 1987 as a species that is new to science!
Familiar species in the shady forested environment at the foot of Telaga Tujuh
We headed out to Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) another area that was familiar hunting ground to me on my previous visits. As soon as we entered the forested paths, we saw a Straight-Banded Catseye (Coelites epiminthia) a species that is often found in the area. The usual Arhopalas and forest habitat species were still around, but not all of them were cooperative and were skittish. By evening, the skies were cloudy and butterfly activity was rather low.
The waterfall at Temurung after a steep climb up
The next morning was our final day on Pulau Langkawi for this very short weekend trip. As we still had about half a day before our evening flight back to Singapore, the team decided to head out to Temurung waterfalls to check out the place. After breakfast, we drove to the north-western coast of Langkawi where Temurung was located. On my previous trip, a visit to the waterfalls proved quite fruitless as the steep terrain made it very difficult to do any butterfly photography.
This visit was not any more successful than my visit to Temurung Waterfalls, although a couple of more cooperative species like a female Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte) and a Clavated Banded Demon (Notocrypta clavata) came out to greet me. A number of other Nymphalidae and Pieridae were fluttering around but the slippery rocks and steep slopes ended any hope of photographing them.
The trail at Kisap which yielded quite a few surprises
We then searched for a location called Kisap (which was recommended by our friend Kazuo-san). After driving around and with the help of our friend Googlemaps, we found a trail at the foothills of Gunung Raya. Besides a large clump of Spanish Needles (Bidens pilosa/alba) which attracted a number of butterflies, the shaded forest understorey also yielded a number of species that I had not spotted at the earlier locations that we explored.
The butterfly diversity had good potential in this area, and it will be a must-visit place on a future trip to Langkawi. I spotted a couple of rare skippers (which were totally uncooperative) and some larger Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae which will be worth investigating in future. The vegetation along the trails probably supported some of the rarer Hesperiidae and Satyrinae that I spotted in that area.
A feast of durians before we depart Langkawi
On our way back to the airport, our resistance to the local durians wore down and we made a beeline to the street-side durian vendor for a quick-fix to our durian cravings. The stall holder told us that these durians came from the state of Kedah and the aroma and flavour is different from the southern variety. Indeed the durians that we sampled tasted very nice and had a special fruity sweetness to it.
Our trusty SilkAir Airbus that brought us home safely
We reached the Langkawi International airport in good time, did our usual check-ins and lazed around in the waiting lounge. Our SilkAir flight was on time, and we were back in Singapore in a flash without any incident. It was an interesting trip although much too rushed, but the company and good food made up for the lack of butterflies.
Text by Khew SK : Photos by Khew SK and Francis Seow-Choen
Special thanks to Prof Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum for arranging this research outing to Langkawi, and the fun company of Francis Seow-Choen, Wei Song and Maosheng (for his patient and careful driving over the 3 days). Thanks also to Kazuo Unno who drove me around and provided a good conversation about butterflies and his exciting adventures all over the world.
