Random Gallery - Gram Blue

Random Butterfly Gallery 
The Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus)

An additional shot for our random gallery this week, by our junior ButterflyCircle member, Jonathan Soong. Our 13-year old teenage talent consistently produces work that is on par with the seniors, and far exceeds that of many 'weekend photographers'.  In this shot taken last weekend, a nicely composed Gram Blue sitting on a leaf of a Leguminosae accentuates the butterfly with a clean background. The leaflet 'triplet' below the butterfly frames and underscores the subject effectively, giving an eye-pleasing composition.

The Gram Blue is moderately common and can sometimes be abundant in certain locations at times.  One of Its recorded host plants, Pueraria phaseoloides. a ground creeper, usually grows in open clearings in bright sunshine. The butterfly is active during the hotter hours of the day, and is skittish.  But it settles in the later hours of the day and stops amongst the low shrubbery and tall grasses to rest. 

Random Gallery - Leopard Lacewing

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane)

We feature another immigrant species this week - the Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane).  This species was not present in the checklists of the early researchers and appeared in the Malaysian/Singaporean territory some time in the late 90's and early 2000's.  It is common in Singapore today, and is quite widespread across various habitats.  Its preferred host plant, Passiflora foetida, is a secondary forest "weed", and grows very quickly. 

This shot of a pristine female Leopard Lacewing was taken last weekend by ButterflyCircle member Chng CK.  In the field, the brighter coloured males tend to outnumber females. 

The Atlas Moth Chronicles - Episode 3

The Atlas Moth Chronicles
Episode 3 :The Circle of Life

After sharing his meticulous documentation of the life cycle of the Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) in Episodes 1 and 2, Dr Wee Yeow Chin returns to complete his story in this final episode of the Atlas Moth Chronicles.

Episode 2 describes the development of the caterpillars ending in eclosion. However, there was one case that did not end right. The pupating caterpillar somehow ended on the tabletop and began to lay down its silk. Not happy with this, I moved it to a branch with larger leaves (Bridellia sp.) than the original Limau Purut (Citrus hystrix). It continued to lay silk on a leaf for the next 48 hours. Because of the larger leaf size, the caterpillar wasted its silk, leaving none to cover itself. So it ended up as a “naked” pupa.

On the 12th day the caterpillar underwent a final moult, leaving a crumpled mass of old skin on the leaf. From an unattractive, dried looking caterpillar, it turned into a colourful pupa showing the various parts of the future moth. Notice the abdominal segments, folded wings, antennae, mouthparts and head. The pupa wriggled whenever disturbed. The next major change would be eclosion, where the emerging moth leaves its skin behind and crawls out of the silken case. In this particular case I would be able to follow the process unobstructed. Unfortunately I missed the crucial moment. I have only a dissected empty pupa case to show the moulted skin as well as the pupa skin inside the silken case after eclosion.

 
 

Eclosion for this naked pupa occurred at 29 days. I only realised what happened when I found a ragged moth with crumpled wings in the dish it was in. Apparently the emerging moth failed to crawl over the side of the dish and so its wings failed to expand. When I later experimented with removing the top covering of the pupa case to observe the development inside, I found the emerging moth at the edge of my computer table hanging onto a wire until its wings expanded. I had left it on a flat surface but again missed the crucial moment. It was a female and it successfully mated the following day.

The moth with the crumpled wings was left hanging from the edge of a leaf and attracted three to five male moths every night for the next seven nights. However, not a single male copulated with this strange looking female but remained around till nightfall. Was it possible that the female failed to give the necessary courtship signal? Or was it because the males failed to recognise her as a female as her wings were not expanded? In the absence of copulation, she laid about a hundred unfertilised eggs, none of which subsequently hatched.

 
 

In all instances of eclosion the emerging moth remained clinging to the pupa case until nightfall. When it was a male moth, verified by its pair of wide antennae, it would fly off sometime during the night, apparently to seek out newly emerged females. The wider and more elaborate antennae are presumed to enable it to better detect the pheromone discharged by females some distance away. However, an emerging female, with narrower antennae, always remained attached to the pupa case to await a visiting male or males.

 
 
 

Males arrived during the early morning. The first to arrive immediately attached itself to the female. A second male would sometime also cling on to the female. Latecomers simply waited nearby, to fly off the following night. Where there were two males per female, the tip of the abdomen of the first male would make connections with that of the female, thus excluding the second male. The pair remained thus for up to 11-20 hours after which they disconnect but remained attached. Then they flew off, the male probably to seek out another female and the female to lay her eggs on a host plant.

 

To collect the eggs, it would be necessary to cage the pair before they disengage. Egg laying went on for a few days under captivity, giving a total of up to 200-250 eggs per female. The female remained alive for only a few days more. A few of the males that arrived to mate with the newly emerged females failed to survive the next day, dying in the garden, their bodies disintegrating and became food for ants. They probably had visited other females previously before arriving.

 

It was noted with the second batch of 18 pupae that the first wave of emerging moths was males. Females generally emerged later. The number of days from start of pupation to eclosure was 22-23 days for males and 23-25 days for females. This would mean that caterpillars that would develop into male moths had a shorter pupa stage than potential females or they started to pupate a few days earlier. Having males eclose earlier can be a mechanism to discourage inbreeding. The males would have long gone before the females emerge. There is also the possibility of caterpillars “which eventually turn into adult females to pass through one instar more than those which develop into males," as suggested by Henry Barlow. But I failed to detect this in my caterpillars.

Text & Photos by Dr Wee Yeow Chin

Reference : Barlow, H.S., 1982. An introduction to the moths of South East Asia, Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur

Random Gallery - Tawny Coster

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Tawny Coster (Acreae violae)

The Tawny Coster is a "foreign talent" that has migrated to Singapore over the past years and has made our little island in the sun its home since 2006.  It is relatively common and widespread in Singapore, being most often observed in urban and secondary forest areas where its caterpillar host plant, Passiflora foetida grows. 

In this week's gallery, we feature a shot taken by ButterflyCircle member Loke PF, who chanced upon this mating pair where the female had just eclosed (and still clinging onto her empty pupal shell) In nature this happens fairly often, where the "early bird catches the worm", or in this case, where the male lies in wait to mate with the female just as she ecloses (or even before!). In extreme cases, particularly in the documented observations of species in the Heliconiinae sub-family, "pupal rape" occurs where the male mates with the female of the same species even when she has yet to eclose, by tearing through the pupal shell!

Launch of Tampines-Changkat Nature Centre

ButterflyCircle's Community Engagement
Launch of the Tampines-Changkat Nature Centre


MP Irene Ng cuts the ribbon to launch the Tampines-Changkat Nature Centre

After the success of creating a new Butterfly Garden at Tampines-Changkat constituency, which was opened to the public in November last year, the group of enthusiasts under the leadership of Suzana Dawan continued enthusiastically with more roadshows at the constituency level and also at national level exhibitions like the Singapore Garden Festival. 

The Tampines-Changkat Butterfly Interest Group also set up their own FaceBook page to share their activities and members' efforts to improve and sustain the Butterfly Garden.  Member of Parliament Irene Ng further encouraged the members to engage and educate the community, and the Butterfly Garden had regular visiting groups from nearby primary schools and residents keen to learn a bit more about butterflies. 

MP Irene Ng then supported the conversion of an unused facility at the Housing and Development Board (HDB) void deck at Block 124, Tampines Street 12, into a Nature Centre for the group.  On 1 Sep 2012, the Tampines-Changkat Nature Centre was officially opened at a short ceremony by MP Irene Ng.

Young ButterflyCircle members Jonathan Soong and Brian Goh share their knowledge about butterflies with MP Irene Ng

ButterflyCircle is happy to have been involved in an advisory role in some of the activities of the Tampines-Changkat Butterfly Interest Group.  Members also turned up to support the Opening Ceremony of the Nature Centre.  ButterflyCircle's mission and members work were showcased at a booth during the Opening Ceremony.  Books by ButterflyCircle members were also available for sale.

The event was attended by a small crowd from the area and MP Irene Ng cut the ribbon to declare the Nature Centre open.  Butterfly breeding efforts were showcased at the Nature Centre, as well as information, photographs and exhibits about butterflies.



The Children's Colouring Competition in progress (above) and winners and participants with MP Irene Ng

In conjuction with the opening, a Children's Colouring Contest and a Photography Competition were also organised. ButterflyCircle member Koh Cher Hern's submission won him the 2nd Prize in the Photography Competition.  

Judging of the Photography Competition and ButterflyCircle member Koh Cher Hern with his 2nd prize effort

The Malay Press, Berita Harian also picked up the news and featured the opening in a short article in the following day's paper.  It highlighted the Nature Centre's mission to educate and inject in today’s generation as well as the next, to explore, respect and love nature. The centre was believed to be the first hub to house various activities and special exhibitions on local flora and fauna in a HDB neighbourhood.  This is also to educate residents about butterflies, their caterpillars and relationships with plants.

Judges of the two competitions pose with MP Irene Ng

The Nature Centre is about the size of a 3-room HDB flat and features an exhibition area, a meeting room, and an general purpose area for discussions, talks and presentations.  It is hoped that, at this new "HQ" for the Tampines-Changkat Butterfly Interest Group, more ideas will be conceived to promote nature- and butterfly-friendly activities and education efforts that will encourage the community to learn more and appreciate butterflies and nature in general.

This Lime Butterfly caterpillar knows how to pupate exactly at the location that depicts its future beautiful form!

The next project would be to expand the existing Butterfly Garden's landscaping into the external areas surrounding the enclosure, and perhaps to even add in a community eco-pond to attract dragonfly biodiversity to Tampines!

Text by Khew SK :  Photos by Anthony Wong and courtesy of Tampines-Changkat Butterfly Interest Group   

Random Gallery - Storey's Palmer

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Storey's Palmer (Zela storeyi)

The genus Zela comprises some very rare species of Hesperiidae in the Malaysian and Singaporean butterfly fauna.  The caterpillars of the genus typically feed on rattan.  The only representative found in Singapore so far, Storey's Palmer (Zela storeyi) was a recently revised taxon that was previously classified as Zela zenon.  It was described and re-classified in 2004 by Dr Laurence Kirton and the late Col John Eliot, in the Malayan Nature Journal.  The species was named in honour of the famous collector, Hugh RM Storey, who did most of his collection in Malaysia until he passed away in April 2002.  What was fascinating about HRM Storey, was that in the later years of his life, he was collecting butterflies in the field whilst confined to a wheelchair!  Veteran Malaysian collectors will remember that Hugh led the group of prominent butterfly collectors and researchers known as the ToshForce.

This excellent shot of Storey's Palmer was taken last weekend by ButterflyCircle member, Koh Cher Hern in a patch of forest within the nature reserves where this species is most often encountered. 

Life History of the Jacintha Eggfly

Life History of the Jacintha Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina jacintha)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Hypolimnas Hübner, 1819
Species: bolina Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: jacintha Drury, 1773
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 85mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Asystasia gangetica (Acanthaceae, common names: Common Asystasia, Chinese Violet).


A female f-jacintha Jacintha Eggfly.


A typical male Jacintha Eggfly sunbathing on  a leaf perch.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the male is dark brown to black with a large purple-washed white discal patch on each wing, and a similar but smaller sub-apical patch on the forewing. A series of small postdiscal white dots can be found on each wing (note: these spots have been found to be absent in some specimens). The female is brown with a series of moderately large postdiscal white dots on each wing. Both wings have a whitish submarginal fascia consisting of double internervular white spots which are broader on the hindwing. In female form f-jacintha, the forewing has some diffuse bluish markings  beyond the cell. In contrast,  the female  form f-incommoda has these markings enlarged into a prominent whitish  band and it typically has diffused bluish-whtie discal band in the hindwing. Intermediaries between two forms exist, and it is not uncommon for diffuse orange discal patches to be present on the hindwing, and in spaces 1b-3 in the forewing.  Underneath, the wings are orange brown to dark brown in both sexes, with the submarginal fascia and postdiscal white dots corresponding to those on the upperside. Both wings have a large prominent white discal band.


A female f-incommoda Jacintha Eggfly sunbathing.


A variant of the female f-incommoda Jacintha Eggfly with a large white discal patch on the hindwing.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour: 
This (jacintha) sub-species of Hypolimnas bolina is common in Singapore, more so than the bolina sub-species  (Great Eggfly). The fast flying adults are usually found in open bushlands,  parks  or fringes of nature reserves, visiting flowers and sunbathing on perches. The males are territorial and will guard a particular perch persistently even after being disturbed by other intruding butterflies. 

Another male Jacintha Eggfly on a leaf-perch. This variant has just a few postdiscal white dots on the forewing.

The underside of a female Jacintha Eggfly.

Early Stages:

The caterpillars of the Jacintha Eggfly feed on leaves and young shoots of the abundant weed, Common Asystasia (Asystasia gangetica), which can be found growing in untended lands in many parts of Singapore. The same plant is utilized as larval hosts by the immature stages of Autumn Leaf and Blue Pansy.

Local host plant: Asystasia gangetica.

A mating pair of the Jacintha Eggfly found in a coastal park.

A mother Jacintha Eggfly ovispositing on the underside of a leaf of the Common Asystasia.

The eggs of the Jacintha Eggfly are laid singly or in small groups of two to four on the underside of a leaf of the host plant.  The pale green egg is somewhat globular in shape but with a blunt top. Ten to evelen raised ridges run from the micropylar at the top to the base where the egg is adhered to the leaf surface. Numerous inconspicuous striations runs horizontally between these vertical ridges. Each egg has a diameter of about 0.5mm.

A group of three eggs of the Jacintha Eggfly laid on the leaf underside of the Common Asystasia.

Two views of an egg of the Jacintha Eggfly, diameter: 0.5mm

Two views of a maturing egg of the Jacintha Eggfly.

The egg takes about 3.5-4 days to hatch. The young caterpillar emerges by eating away part of the egg shell. Much of the egg shell becomes the first meal for the newly hatched which is about 2mm in length. It has a cylindrical and pale yellowish brown  body covered with many small and dark tubercles. Long, fine and dark-colored setae emanate from these tubercles. The head capsule is black, mostly round in shape with no visible horns.

Two newly hatched caterpillars of the Jacintha Eggfly, with another two about to emerge.


Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar of the Jacintha Eggfly after its first leaf diet, length: 2mm.

The 1st instar caterpillar feeds on the lamina of a leaf and between feeds,  it typically rests on leaf underside against the midrib. The leaf diet gives the caterpillar body a strong dark green undertone. Its growth is rather rapid, and after reaching about 4mm in 2days, the caterpillar moults to the 2nd instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3.4mm.


Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 4mm.

The body of the 2nd instar caterpillar is yellowish brown in base color with a dark green undertone. The same layout of tubercles as seen in the earlier instar is still present, but now short and stubby processes raise from tubercles, and several short and fine setae branche from each of these processes. The head capsule is honey yellow to orange with two moderately long and dark-colored cephalic horns. The ocelli on each side of the head are embedded in a dark patch. This instar lasts about 2 days with the body length reaching about 7.5mm.

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


Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar,  length: 6.8mm


Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 7.2mm

The 3rd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely except for the change of the body colour to mostly dark brown to dark purplish brown. Another discernible change is the proportionate increase in the length of the spiny processes covering the body surface and two cephalic horns.   This instar takes about 2-2.5 days to complete with body length reaching about 11-12mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 6.5mm.


A 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 11mm.


Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 11.5mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar has  proportionately  longer body processes and cephalic horns. Noteworthy is that the horns are even longer than the vertical dimension of the head capsule. The long spiny processes have its colour changed (from the dark brown/black coloration seen in the 3rd instar) to yellow with only the terminal branches still in black. The cephalic horns remain black in colour though. This instar lasts 3-3.5 days with the body length reaching about 20mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 11.5mm.


Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, later  in this stage, length: 16mm.


Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar,  dormant prior to its moult,  length: 18.5mm.

The 5th (and penultimate) instar caterpillar resembles the 4th instar caterpillar closely  but with the body colour changes to a solid black which contrasts strongly against the bright yellowish coloration of the  spiny processes. A new feature comes in the form of  a sub-spiracular yellow line, intermittent at certain point, on each side of the body. The 5th instar lasts for 3-4 days and the caterpillar body length reaches up to 34mm before the next moult.

Two views of  5th instar caterpillar,  early in this stage, length: 21mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 33.5mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 30mm

The 6th (and final) instar caterpillar resembles the 5th instar caterpillar closely with the only visible change being the presence of small dark patches on the head capsule in some specimens. This final instar lasts for 6-7 days, and the body length reaches up to 60-63mm.

Two views of a 6th instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 25mm.

The head capsules of three different 6th instar caterpillars.


Two views of a 6th instar caterpillar, length: 40 mm.

 
Two views of a 6th instar caterpillar,  length: 47mm (bottom), 60mm (top).

On the last day, the caterpillar ceases feeding and wanders around for a pupation site. The pupation site could be the underside of a leaf (not necessary that of the host plant) and stems/branches of a chosen plant. At this site, the caterpillar spins a silk pad from which it hangs vertically to take on the pre-pupatory pose.

A pre-pupa of the Jacintha Eggfly.

Pupation takes place about 1 day later. The pupa suspends itself from the silk pad with no supporting silk girdle. It is entirely pale to rusty brown with dorsal and dorso-lateral  rows of short spiky processes, and two short cephalic horns.  The leading edge of  wing case is also adorned with two such short spiky protrusions.   Length of pupae: 22-24mm.

The pupation event of a Jacintha Eggfly caterpillar.

Three views of a pupa of the Jacintha Eggfly.

Three views of a mature pupa of the Jacintha Eggfly.

After about 5-6 days of development, the pupa turns dark as the pupal skin becomes translucent and the  markings on the forewing upperside of the adult  become discernible as a result. The eclosion event takes place the next day.

The Eclosion event of a Jacintha Eggfly butterfly

A newly eclosed female Jacintha Eggfly resting on its pupal case.

A newly eclosed female Jacintha Eggfly.

References:

• 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 Comm. Pte. Ltd., 2010. 

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Terry Ong,  Federick Ho, Khew S K and Horace Tan