ButterflyCircle in the News!

ButterflyCircle in the News!
Shutterbugs on the Prowl


© Singapore Press Holdings - ST Life! Weekend article 14 June 2013 by Lea Wee

ButterflyCircle was featured in a media article about nature photographers in yesterday's Straits Times Life! Weekend section. The article, by ST journalist Lea Wee, spoke about nature photography in Singapore, the various interest groups and their respective subjects. ButterflyCircle's 14-year old talent, Jonathan Soong, was prominently featured on the main photograph of the article, whilst he was stalking a butterfly at our outing last Sunday at Gardens by the Bay. Jonathan is now ButterflyCircle's poster boy!

The article talks about nature photography as a challenging but rewarding pursuit by hobbyists and special interest groups, and spending their free time chasing birds, butterflies, dragonflies, spiders, other critters and even plants! Looking back at my own experience over the years, the availability of affordable digital photography technology some time in the early 2000's saw a significant leap in all genres of photography, with nature photography being one of the more popular ones.

ButterflyCircle members helping each other get an unobstructed shot of a butterfly, whilst the others wait patiently for their turn

In the days of film cameras, I recall that I had to shoot, wait for the entire roll of slide film (I usually use the ISO 100 Fujichrome Velvia, 36 exposures) to be used up, send the roll for developing, and keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that the shots turn out as expected. There was at least one occasion when the entire roll of slide film came back completely black - I had misloaded the film in the camera!

The staple film of nature photographers in the good ol' days

I can never imagine going back to the film days when it was often hit-and-miss with exposures, lighting, focus and so on. And the one of the boons of digital photography - the ability to change ISOs to suit lighting conditions. With a roll of film, you have a fixed ISO and you have to deal with it until the next roll of film. Of course, the exorbitant cost of developing a roll of slides and printing technology in those days were pretty prohibitive, and shooting at 8 frames per second was unthinkable, unless you had a magazine of film loaded onto your camera back and you also had deep pockets!

My trusty ol' first digital camera, the twist-turn Nikon Coolpix 995!  It had an "massive" 3.34Mp sensor in those days

So the digital age crept up silently on us, and during the early days, I relented, jumped on the digital bandwagon and bought myself my first digital camera - a Nikon Coolpix 995. I still remember the heated debates between the film supporters and the digicam supporters. "There is no way that digital cameras can replace film cameras". "The resolution in film will never be surpassed by any form of digital technology". Ad infinitum... I just wonder what cameras these skeptics are using today.

ST Journalist Lea Wee interviewing ButterflyCircle's oldest member, Sunny Chir

So last Sunday, ButterflyCircle arranged an outing at Gardens by the Bay. ST journalist Lea Wee and photographer Joseph Nair joined us. Our members went about their usual butterfly chasing exploits whilst Joe stalked Jonathan and Lea interviewed Brian, Jonathan, Sunny and me.

We continued to hunt for the Vagrant, which was shot by Billy and Cher Hern just a couple of days before (more about this new find in my next blog article). But the latest addition to the Singapore butterfly fauna list was nowhere to be found, and proved elusive, despite so many of ButterflyCircle members hunting for it. The species will probably turn up again when we least expect it.

Newbie Nona looking like a damsel in distress, and then shooting confidently with Sunny's expert coaching

Two members who had been in hibernation for some time joined us on this sunny morning too, and it was good to see them back in action with the regulars. The day started out with the skies threatening to open up on us, but somehow the winds changed and we were blessed with a relatively sunny day. The butterflies were up and about, and this part of Gardens by the Bay can be considered a 'butterfly garden' by any standards. Given that it is a free-ranging butterfly garden, it is ecologically and environmentally more sustainable than a caged facility.

WANTED : The butterfly murderer!  A White Collared Kingfisher

As biodiversity increases, firstly via the horticultural palette of plants, insects like butterflies and bees will follow suit, and then the higher forms of animals will appear to feed on them. Already, we spotted a 'serial murderer' in the form of a White Collared Kingfisher (Todirhamphus chloris) lurking around the area, and our members spotted it snacking on a poor butterfly.

Three Lycaenids found at Gardens by the Bay

The rarer form-chrysippus of the Plain Tiger - a male, also made a guest appearance. In Singapore, the dominant form is the white-hindwinged form-alcippoides. The form-chrysippus which has the hindwings unicolourous with the forewings, is much rarer, and sightings of this form have been few and far between. Interestingly, as we move northwards to Malaysia, and even further afield to countries like India, the orange-hindwinged form-chrysippus is the dominant (and more common) form.

A male form-chrysippus Plain Tiger - the rarer of the two forms of Plain Tiger found in Singapore

It was fun watching veteran ButterflyCircle member Sunny Chir racing after the Plain Tiger. He was very focused, as he locked his 'gun-sights' on the skittish and constantly on-the-move butterfly and determinedly tracked it for almost half and hour. It was a case of whether the butterfly or the photographer would be fatigued first. But Sunny's shot above indicated that it was the butterfly that needed refueling break first. In an earlier blog article, Sunny shares his experience and techniques in stalking and photographing butterflies.

More colourful butterflies found at Gardens by the Bay

Butterfly photography is indeed a challenging past time. There're always the difficulties of a skittish subject, finding a clean background, lighting condition, struggling with a strong breeze at times and most importantly, understanding and respecting nature and the environment around us. Fueled by the thrill of the hunt, and the satisfaction of admiring a well-executed shot on screen makes ButterflyCircle members go out on butterfly shooting outings weekend after weekend in our quest for the 'perfect shot'.

ButterflyCircle's youngest member, Brian Goh, scrutinising his camera's preview screen to see whether he nailed that 'perfect shot' or not!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Chng CK, Goh EC, Loke PF, Billy Oh, Nelson Ong, Jonathan Soong & Ellen Tan

Special acknowledgment to Singapore Press Holdings for the ST Life! Weekend article and Lea Wee for the excellent article on Nature Photographers in Singapore.

WildSingapore! : Shutterbugs on the Prowl!  

Random Gallery - Pea Blue

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus)

The Pea Blue is a widespread and common butterfly, and described to be distributed from southern Europe, throughout Africa, spreading throughout the Indo-Australian region all the way to Hawaii. On hot sunny days, it is fast-flying and skittish, but stops to perch on its favourite leaves regularly. The caterpillars feed on the Rattlebox Bush (Crotalaria pallida) and Rattleweed (Crotalaria retusa) which are common plants in wastelands and secondary forest.

This pair of mating Pea Blues was shot last Sunday at Gardens by the Bay, where it is a resident species at the areas where its caterpillar host plants grow. ButterflyCircle member Mark Wong took the opportunity to shoot this pair perched on a leaf whilst they were indisposed.

Random Gallery - Blue Pansy

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya wallacei)

This week, we continue to feature butterflies shot at Gardens by the Bay (GB). There was apparently a blog that commented that there were few or no butterflies at Gardens by the Bay. I wonder where the author was making his observations at. Perhaps inside the airconditioned conservatories?

ButterflyCircle member Loke PF shot this pristine male Blue Pansy on Sunday at GB. Did you know that the local subspecies of the Blue Pansy in Malaysia and Singapore was so named in honour of Alfred Russell Wallace? The Blue Pansy is a pretty but often skittish sun-loving species that prefers open grassy fields. Often males are seen dogfighting and chasing each other, sometimes in spiralling duels reaching 10-15 m up into the air.

Life History of the Grass Demon

Life History of the Grass Demon (Udaspes folus)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Udaspes Moore, 1881
Species: folus Cramer, 1775
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 37-45mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Cheilocostus speciosus (Costaceae, common name: Cane Reed, Spiral Flag, White Costus), Costus lucanusianus (Costaceae, common name: African Spiral Flag), Hedychium coronarium  (Zingiberaceae, common name: White Ginger Lily, Butterfly Ginger), Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae, common name: Ginger), Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae, common name: Tumeric).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the wings are dark brown. The forewing has large white hyaline spots in spaces 1b, 2 and the distal end of the cell. Smaller white spots are found conjoined in spaces 3 and 4, singly in space 5, and conjoined in spaces 6 to 9. The hindwing has a large white discal patch with irregular outline. Underneath, the wings are reddish brown. In the hindwing, the tornal area is paler brown with the large white discal patch extended to wing base. A large irregularly shaped dark brown spot occurs in spaces 1b and 2. The antenna has a whitish band just below the club.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

Grass Demon is moderately common in Singapore. The adults are typically found in parks, park connectors and gardens where one of its many host plants in the Zingiberaceae and Costaceae families are cultivated. The adults are fast fliers among the ground cover and shrubbery. They have been observed to visit flowers for nectar, and perch on sun-bathing spots with open wings.

Random Gallery - Dark Glassy Tiger

Random Butterfly Gallery 
The Dark Glassy Tiger (Parantica agleoides agleoides)

Another shot from Gardens by the Bay, featuring a Dark Glassy Tiger feeding on the Marigold flower. One of the ecological roles played by butterflies is that of a pollinator of flowering plants. When the butterfly inserts its long proboscis into the flower of a plant, it brushes against the pollen-carrying stamen of the flower. When it next visits another flower of the same species of plant, it transfers the pollen onto the pistil of the other flower, thereby aiding in the pollination and the process of fertilisation.

This process allows the plant to bear fruit and eventually seeds for the next generation of plants. Without pollinating agents like butterflies, moths, bees, wasps and other insects that are attracted to the flower for its nectar, many plants will not be able to bear fruits.

Random Gallery - Mottled Emigrant

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Mottled Emigrant (Catopsilia pyranthe pyranthe)

Considered an urban butterfly, the Mottled Emigrant is as comfortable in urban parks and gardens as it is in the forested nature reserves of Singapore. As long as its caterpillar host plant, the Seven Golden Candlesticks (Senna alata) is present, one can almost always find the Mottled Emigrant around. The Mottled Emigrant is greenish-white in colour, with thin black borders on the upperside of the wings and a prominent cell-end spot on the forewing. The underside bears reddish striations, giving the wings a "mottled" appearance.

The female lays her eggs on the upperside of the leaves of the host plant, and often many caterpillars are found eating the younger leaves of the plant. This shot, of a feeding Mottled Emigrant, was taken by ButterflyCircle member Nelson Ong at the Fragile Forest of Gardens by the Bay.

Random Gallery - Palm Bob

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Palm Bob (Suastus gremius gremius)

Continuing our series of butterflies spotted at Gardens by the Bay, here is a shot of the skipper Palm Bob by our lady ButterflyCircle member Ellen Tan. The Palm Bob was once considered a very rare butterfly species confined to the mangrove habitats in north Malaysia , but over the past 4-5 decades, has spread throughout the peninsula and discovered in Singapore as a new species in the mid 90's. It has become a common butterfly today, and is quite widespread in distribution across Singapore, appearing from urban parks and gardens to forests and mangrove habitats.

As the caterpillar of the Palm Bob feeds on a variety of ornamental palms like the Yellow Cane Palm, Lady Palm and Sealing Wax Palm, the horticultural trade in the region may have aided the spread of this species across geographical boundaries in a significant way.