Random Gallery - Knight

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Knight (Lebadea martha parkeri)

Last week, we featured the underside of a male Knight on the gallery. Today, we show the upperside of a female Knight. Males have a distinct white apical area on the forewings, whereas the females do not have this characteristic. Featuring a more subdued colour, the female Knight also has the upperside of the hindwing marginal area pale violet-blue. The female Knight has a slightly weaker flight than the male, and prefers to glide gracefully amongst the shrubbery, looking for its caterpillar host plant to lay its eggs on. ButterflyCircle member Koh Cher Hern shot this pristine female Knight perched on a leaf last weekend.

Random Gallery - Purple Duke

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Purple Duke (Eulaceura osteria kumana)

The Purple Duke is a sexually-dimorphic species with the male and female appearing different from each other. Both sexes are skittish and fast-flying and have the habit of flying quickly to the underside of a leaf to hide when alarmed. The brown upperside of the female is reminiscent of the Tanaecia and Euthalia species which share the forested nature reserves with the Purple Duke.

In this shot, taken by ButterflyCircle member Chng CK last weekend, the female Purple Duke adopts a rather interesting pose with her proboscis extended almost horizontally to reach the juices of the ripened fruit of the Singapore Rhododendron.

Life History of the Painted Jezebel

Life History of the Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metarete)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Delias Hübner, 1819
Species: hyparete Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: metarete Butler, 1879
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 60-75mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Dendropthoe pentandra (Loranthaceae).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the wings are white with veins black-dusted towards the outer margins. The female has its veins more heavily black-dusted than the male. Underneath, the wings are white with black-dusted veins. In the hindwing, the basal half is bright yellow and the marginal border is bright orange-red.

A female Painted Jezebel showing us its upperside.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

Painted Jezebel is common throughout Singapore with occurrence in multiple habitats in both nature reserves and urbanised areas. This is likely due to its host plant, Dendrophthoe pentandra, being a common mistletoe on many trees in these areas. The adults can be readily seen fluttering tirelessly at tree-top levels during most of the daylight hours. They only descend to take nectar from flowers or to rest in the shaded understorey towards the later part of the day.

Random Gallery - Knight

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Knight (Lebadea martha parkeri)

The subspecies parkeri of the Knight that was originally discovered by Norman Parker in Singapore has its submarginal area on the upperside of the hindwing a pale violet-blue. This subspecies is believed to be endemic to Singapore. The south Malaysian subspecies, malayana has the submarginal area of the hindwing a reddish brown. In recent years, this subspecies has been observed in Singapore, and hybrids with the hindwing showing intermediate characteristics between subspecies parkeri and malayana have been observed.

This pristine male Knight (identified by its white wingtips) was feeding on the ripened fruits of the Singapore Rhododendron when I managed to take a number of shots of it with its wings folded upright. Although skittish, it has a weaker flight than the more alert Commander but has the same habit of perching on the top surface of a leaf, just out of reach of the photographer's lens.

Random Gallery - Plain Palm Dart

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Plain Palm Dart (Cephrene acalle niasicus)

The Plain Palm Dart is one of two species of the genus Cephrenes found in Singapore. The other one, the Yellow Palm Dart, is an immigrant from the Indo-Australian region. The existence of the Plain Palm Dart was probably overlooked as the male of the species appear very similar to the lookalike Telicota spp. The Plain Palm Dart was added to the checklist as as re-discovery only when the very distinctive female was reliably seen and photographed in Singapore. (See life history article)

The male Plain Palm Dart, with is sharper arrow-like markings on the undersides of its wings, sets is apart from the closely allied Telicota. This individual, shot by ButterflyCircle member Federick Ho, perches in the usual skipper fashion, with its forelegs drawn tightly against its body, and resting only on its mid- and hind legs. Only moderately rare, the Plain Palm Dart is widespread in distribution in Singapore and can be found in urban parks and gardens, mangrove areas and also on the offshore island of Pulau Ubin.

Random Gallery - Commander

Random Butterfly Gallery

The Commander (Moduza procris milonia)

The Commander is a skittish butterfly and is usually very alert to movements and is a difficult butterfly to photograph. However, there are times when it is hungry and is sufficiently distracted whilst feeding or puddling. In the photograph above, ButterflyCircle member Sunny Chir took the opportunity to photograph the Commander whilst it was busy feeding on the ripened fruit of the Singapore Rhododendron in the forested nature reserves. Note the well-balanced position with the spread mid- and hind legs of the butterfly as it probes its proboscis into the sweet fermenting juices.

Random Gallery - Blue Jay

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Blue Jay (Graphium evemon eventus)

The Blue Jay is a common "swallowtail" of the Papilionidae family. Most of the time when encountered, it is fast-flying and skittish. Its powerful and erratic flight makes it very frustrating for a photographer who is tracking its movements. Even to the casual observer, a Blue Jay in flight is very often just a flash of blue that zips by. However, the butterfly is easier to photograph when it is puddling on sandy streambanks and muddy footpaths as shown in many shots in this earlier article.

At other times, the Blue Jay can occasionally be observed to take a rest amongst foliage especially after feeding. This is one instance when ButterflyCircle member Nelson Ong encountered when the butterfly was at rest on a leaf of the Singapore Rhododendron, capturing the Blue Jay in its environment.