The Malay Dartlet (Oriens paragola)
A Malay Dartlet perches on a Coat Button flower
September 2025 is almost over as Asia struggles with destructive tropical cyclone Bualoi sweeping across Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and southern China. Occurring with alarming regularity in this era of climate change, these destructive cyclones and typhoons bear across Asia, usually with fatalities and severe damage caused to property. The low-pressure front has also brought wet weather to Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Locally, the inauspicious Hungry Ghost month ended on 21 Sep and in shopping malls and online, mooncakes are being pre-ordered and sold as the Chinese community look forward to Mid-Autumn Festival with lanterns and mooncakes. It is also a month where many Chinese couples prefer to tie the knot, and hotels will usually be fully booked for weddings.
Singapore has also taken a tough stance on "vaping". For quite some time now, vaping was tolerated as a "safer" alternative to smoking. Despite being illegal in Singapore, enforcement was low on these devices that use heat to create an aerosol that is inhaled by the vaper. However in recent months, the use of Kpods containing etomidate, normally used as an anesthetic or sedation drug. The effects of a vaper using etomidate may cause symptoms like drowsiness, confusion and loss of consciousness. What is more alarming is that vaping equipment have been found in primary school premises, implying that some users may even be well underaged.
So vaping with Kpods containing etomidate and other potential hallucinatory drugs is now considered as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and punishable under Singapore law. Visiting foreigners whose countries allow vaping are advised to surrender their vaping devices upon entering Singapore. The public has also been informed to report vape-related offences to the authorities.
A Malay Dartlet feeding on bird dropping and excreting fluid through its abdomen at the same time
Our feature butterfly for the Month of September 2025 is the recently-discovered Malay Dartlet (Oriens paragola). First sighted at Sg Buloh Wetland Reserve in 2011, this diminutive Hesperiid has since spread across the island to our urban parks and nature reserves. One of the reasons of its rapid distribution may be because its caterpillar host plant is a common grass species - Ottochloa nodosa which grows quite abundantly across a wide variety of habitats.
A Malay Dartlet falls prey to a Crab Spider whilst it is distracted when feeding at a Leea indica bush
As it was not listed in the early authors' checklists, the Malay Dartlet is still considered an exotic species on the Singapore Red Data List. Until the time of its discovery, the genus Oriens was only represented by a single species, the Common Dartlet (Oriens gola pseudolus) in Singapore. There is a third species, Oriens goloides which has not been reliably seen in Singapore yet.
Malay Dartlets feeding on the flowers of the Bandicoot Berry (Leea indica)
The Malay Dartlet is distinctive in having undersides which are dark chocolate brown with a contrasting bright orange-yellow discal patch on the hindwing. The upperside of the wings are dark brown with orange-yellow post-discal bands on both the fore- and hindwings. There are orange-yellow cilia on the hindwing termen in pristine individuals. The post-discal bands are sharply defined and not edged with black spots.
When the Malay Dartlet perches on a leaf, it usually folds its forelegs and stands on the remaining four legs giving the perception that it only has 4 legs instead of 6!
This species is quick on the wing and often observed feeding on small flowering plants in various habitats. In recent years, it can be considered more commonly seen than when it was first discovered 14 years ago. It has spread across to park connectors, urban parks and various other habitats where its host plant grows in abundance. It is highly likely that its caterpillars feed on other species of grasses.
A female Malay Dartlet ovipositing on a leaf of its host plant
The Malay Dartlet has been successfully bred locally on its caterpillar host plant, Ottochloa nodosa (Slender PanicGrass) after its discovery in 2011. The species is now quite well distributed across Singapore and is not considered rare today.
Text by Khew SK : Photos by David Ho, Federick Ho, Khew SK, Koh CH, Ong LM, Michael Soh and Horace Tan
