The Great Imperial (Jacoona anasuja anasuja)
The month of March 2026 must go down in modern history as the most volatile period regionally and globally. The armed forces of the USA and Israel launched joint air and missile strikes on Iranian military, nuclear, and leadership targets on 28 February in the middle of the month of Ramadan. The operation is referred to as:
“Operation Roaring Lion” (Israel) and “Operation Epic Fury” (US). The attack followed weeks of military buildup and failed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. Since then, the conflict has continued through March 2026 with ongoing strikes and counterattacks.
A male Great Imperial feeding on the flower of the Spanish Needle (Bidens alba)
Over the period of a few weeks, the war had an adverse effect globally, as oil prices skyrocketed because the main route through which 20% of the world's crude oil supply passes the Strait of Hormuz was shut down. The price of Brent crude oil shot up sharply from $70 - $75 per barrel to a high of $115 - $120 per barrel before dropping slightly towards the end of March. As a critical commodity, oil has a severe and widespread knock-on effect on everything else from transportation to food. In a matter of days, prices of everyday groceries started rising in some countries that were not even involved in the war.
A female Great Imperial feeding on the flowers of the Bandicoot Berry (Leea indica)
The jury is still out as to who is really winning the war. Despite the US President's announcements that Iran's military arsenal was "obliterated" and that US and Israel were a matter of days from "winning" the war, Iran has dug in and continued blasting missiles and drones towards US facilities in neighbouring countries, hitting civilian and commercial targets along the way. As it is, it would appear that Iran still has a stockpile of missiles and drones that it continues to lob around the region and causing damage and fatalities.
A female Great Imperial feeding on the flower of the Red Tree Bush (Leea rubra)
Over in Singapore, petrol prices have increased by 15-20% though lower than the crude oil price escalation of nearly 40-50%. But the true impact of this increase to freight costs, energy costs and supply chain costs have not begun to be felt yet. If the war continues and the supply of oil is significantly reduced, then it is a matter of time before inflation, and the cost of everyday goods and services will start increasing locally and globally. Iran is probably using this strategic advantage to instigate the rest of the world, which will be reeling under such cost increases, to lobby the US and Israel to end the war.
In these last few days of March, there has been some news of "negotiations" between the warring parties, but neither side appears to be issuing statements that are accurate enough to predict the end of hostilities in the near term. So the world will continue to watch what happens in the Middle East and hope that their daily expenditures return to normal and the cost of living will not cause hardship that they have not experienced in recent years.
A male Great Imperial perched on a blade of grass in the forest understory
Coming back to our relatively more peaceful natural world and particularly our winged jewels, we feature our Butterfly of the Month for March 2026, the Great Imperial (Jacoona anasuja anasuja). A majestic Lycaenid, this species appears to have survived and thrived in Singapore over the years. Considered a rarity in the earlier part of the millennial, the Great Imperial is now seen with higher regularity along the fringes of Singapore's forested nature reserves. Evidence of sightings posted on social media and special interest groups' digital resources indicate that the species is not as rare today as previously thought.
A female Great Imperial opening her wings to sunbathe
The Great Imperial is still essentially a forest-dependent butterfly and is rarely seen in urban parks and gardens. Its caterpillars are known to feed on hemiparasitic plants, and its life history has been successfully recorded in Singapore on Dendrophthoe pentandra (Malayan Mistletoe) (Loranthaceae), and Scurrula ferruginea (Rusty-Leafed Mistletoe) (Loranthaceae). Although these two plants can be found in urban parks and gardens, the Great Imperial is not found in urban habitats, suggesting that it still prefers the forested nature reserves and forest fringe habitats.
A male Great Imperial showing off its black and shining blue uppersides
The male Great Imperial is a deep shining blue on the upperside, with a short oblique band running across the black apical border. It has a blue subapical spot on the forewing. The female is predominantly brown above with a white tornal area on the hindwing. The tails of the male are shorter, rigid and "sword-like" whilst the female has longer curly tails.
The underside is mainly orange, with the forewing apex a darker shade, and the post discal markings limited to the tornal half of the hindwing. Both sexes possess a long tail at vein 2 of the hindwing and a shorter on at vein 3. The tornal area of the hindwing has a series of black spots and markings with the spot with the large black spot at the tornus edged with iridescent blue scales. The eyes of the butterfly are jet black, and the legs are generally white.
The Great Imperial is often mistaken for the much rarer and critically-endangered Grand Imperial (Neocheritra amrita amrita) which is superficially similar. The distinguishing markings are shown in the comparison plate above.
Text by Khew SK : Photos by Choy CW, Antonio Giudici, Federick Ho, Khew SK, Michael Khor, Richard Lee, Low JK, Jonathan Soong, Horace Tan and Tan BJ
