The Banded Flitter (Quedara monteithi monteithi)
A mating pair of Banded Flitter - Left : Female, Right : Male
We are on the threshold of the final quarter of 2026 as we bid farewell to September. This month, we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, Zhōngqiū Jié) which is one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals, often described as a celebration of family reunion, gratitude and the full moon. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is traditionally considered at its fullest and brightest. The round full moon represents completeness, which is why families traditionally gather for dinner, drink tea, admire the moon and share mooncakes. Their round shape also symbolises reunion.
A male Banded Flitter perches on a leaf
A female Banded Flitter feeding on the flower of Mussaenda bush
September was also a month when the dreaded haze returned to Southeast Asia, triggered primarily by the slash-and-burn agricultural practice amongst Singapore's neighbours. Whilst the air quality deteriorated into the unhealthy range on several days in the month, seasonal rains eased the smoggy air somewhat and made the haze less severe than previous years. It is a wonder that such burning occurs almost annually in large areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan, but with such large expanses of forests and difficult access, fighting such fires during the dry season proves very challenging.
Speaking of rain, the city of Bangkok was inundated with heavy storms. Rainfall over the past three days has caused heavy flooding in the Thai capital. A state of disaster has been declared in all 50 districts in Bangkok. A symptom of climate change? Or poor city planning and management? Perhaps a bit of both? But livelihoods, and often even lives are at stake from such natural disasters. Infrastructure planning in congested urban cities can, to a certain extent, mitigate extreme weather phenomenon but a lot depends on what the authorities and governments are willing to do.
This month, we feature a Hesperiidae or Skipper, which I refer to as the Banded Flitter. Although a more frequently used name for this species is Dubious Bar Flitter or Dubious Flitter, the common name thus given makes no sense. What is so dubious about this Flitter? Dubious means doubtful, questionable, or not entirely trustworthy. It usually suggests that there is a good reason to hesitate before believing, accepting, or approving something. For a butterfly? If someone is trying to justify the cryptic nature of this species with many lookalikes, then why only this species? There are tens of other species that are often "dubious" in their identifications!
The rationale for referring to this Flitter as Banded Flitter is that the female of the species resembles another similar looking species - the Banded Demon (Notocrypta paralysis varians) and other similar looking and related Notocrypta species. One question that may be asked would be "why name the species after only the female's physical characteristics?" This is because the male of this species is brown and unmarked. But then again, so is the Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber) where only the female is striped and the males have no sign of any stripes whatsoever.
A female Banded Flitter feeding on the flower of a Spanish Needle (Bidens alba)
Hence, giving the common name for Quedara monteithi monteithi as Banded Flitter is a more reasonable and logical name rather than calling it "Dubious". As there is no international naming authority for common names of butterflies, it is through common usage that the common names stick over time. Taxonomic specialists will always refer to this species as Quedara monteithi monteithi and there is never a doubt (or anything "dubious" about it!) as to what this species is known, by its Latin name.
A female Banded Flitter feeding on the flower of Lantana camara
A female Banded Flitter sunbathing with half-opened wings showing the extent of the white band on the forewing
The male Banded Flitter is dark brown and unmarked on the upperside and underside of its wings, which sometimes have lighter shades along the wing margins. The female is more distinctive and has a broad oblique white band across the forewing. The eyes are a solid dark brown whilst the antennae are generally brown throughout.
A female Banded Flitter reacts to the camera flash and shows its white forewing band more completely.
The species is a forest-dependent butterfly and often found where its caterpillar host plant, the Water Rattan Palm (Daemonorops augustifolia) grows wild. The Banded Flitter shares this host plant with some other skippers like the Tree Flitter (Hyarotis adrastus praba) and White Palm Bob (Suastus everyx everyx).
Previously considered a rare species in Singapore, the Banded Flitter is no longer as rare as before and the females are more regularly spotted along forest edges and amongst the shrubbery next to the nature reserves in Singapore. Both sexes are often photographed feeding on flowering plants. A rarer cousin, Quedara singularis looks very similar and should be looked out for in Singapore.
Text by Khew SK : Photos by Billy Goh, Khew SK, Koh CH, Henry Koh, Low JK, Aaron Soh, Horace Tan and Art Toh.
