Festival of Biodiversity 2013

ButterflyCircle @ Festival of Biodiversity 2013
VivoCity - 13 & 14 Jul 2013


ButterflyCircle at the Festival of Biodiversity 2013!

After last year's successful Festival of Biodiversity held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 26-27 May 2012, NParks and the Biodiversity Roundtable started planning for this year's Festival. After some discussions, the preference was to hold the Festival at a more public venue to encourage more Singaporeans and residents of Singapore to appreciate the diverse biodiversity that can be found on this little island.

At the SBG, a large number of the visitors were already nature lovers, and "converting the converted" was perceived to be limiting the outreach and educational emphasis of the Festival. Hence this time around, the suggested venue for the 2013 Festival would be in a shopping mall, and specifically to reach out to the weekend crowds and families and to showcase what Singapore has, in terms of its amazing biodiversity.

The Festival of Biodiversity (FOB) is an annual event organized by the National Parks Board in collaboration with the Biodiversity Roundtable. The inaugural festival was first held in May 2012. The FOB an event to celebrate Singapore’s natural heritage to bring about greater awareness of the rich biodiversity in Singapore.

FOB 2013 was held at the atrium of VivoCity, Singapore's largest shopping mall. The FOB display area was located at the Central Court B, which was amply lit by natural daylighting via a skylight above the display area. As both the venue and the display set-up were sponsored by corporate benefactors, the location and area for this year's FOB was more compact with an integrated exhibition concept, rather than like the previous year's booth concept.

Overview of the display area of FOB 2013 at VivoCity's Central Court B

The display area was divided into three main sections featuring urban biodiversity, marine habitats and terrestrial habitats. The groups handling the marine exhibits and museum specimens took centre stage with their interesting offerings, especially to the ordinary laymen visitors. The rest of the groups had their opportunity to feature their respective groups' activities and work via videos and slide shows on the 40" flat screen monitors.

President Tony Tan and guests at the opening address of FOB 2013

The event was graced by President Tony Tan (he was also the Guest of Honour last year). This year's FOB also saw the launch of the book "Living in a Garden - The Greening of Singapore" - a celebration of 50 years of greening in our City in a Garden.

At the same event, we also saw the issue of "Our City in a Garden" stamps and first day cover. ButterflyCircle's Horace Tan's Spotted Blue Crow caterpillar was also featured on one of the stamps in the series. Look carefully at the 80 cent stamp below and see if you can spot the caterpillar.

ButterflyCircle members were out in full support of the FOB 2013. The group also contributed to a video clip about BC and our activities. The video, directed and produced by ButterflyCircle member CJ Huang, showcased an amazing array of BC's photos, activities and contributions to the conservation of butterflies in Singapore.

ButterflyCircle members watching our video!


Members of Tampines-Changkat Butterfly Group briefing the President

Also featuring their respective videos and slide shows were groups like the Tampines-Changkat Butterfly group, Nature Photographic Society (S), NParks, Republic Polytechnic, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity and others. As the weekend public visitors streamed in to VivoCity, all the nature volunteers and groups who were at the display area were kept busy, explaining to the public and helping to create a greater awareness of Singapore's biodiversity.

President Tony Tan with the younger generation nature lovers at the kids' nature activity centre

BC members ended our morning with a sumptuous lunch at one of the Chinese restaurants at VivoCity. It was an enjoyable time for everyone, who made the effort to get out there on a Saturday morning to support the FOB and also BC. It was also a proud moment for everyone to view the videoclip featuring BC's high quality work. Veteran BC member Sunny Chir even brought his grandchildren to pave the way and nurture future BC members!

Watch ButterflyCircle's Video that was prepared for FOB 2013!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Chng CK, Huang CJ and Khew SK

Down Memory Lane - Chocolate Tiger

Down Memory Lane : Gone Forever?
The Chocolate Tiger (Danaus melaneus sinopion)

This relatively large Danainae, the Chocolate Tiger (Parantica melaneus sinopion) is common in Malaysia, particularly at higher elevations like the hill resorts at Fraser's Hill and Penang Hill. Often, they fly in the company of other Danainae, feeding on wild flowers. The Chocolate Tiger has a slow and unhurried flight but can be skittish if approached too quickly.

It was recorded from Singapore by the early authors like W.A. Fleming but has not been seen for a long time. Like many of the Danainae, the caterpillar host plant is probably one of the not uncommon lactiferous plants (probably from the Asclepiaceae family) that still grow in our forests. The wings of the Chocolate Tiger are bluish grey with the veins and wing borders coloured a dark chocolate brown. The abdomen of the butterfly is light orange-brown and prominent when it is in flight. Will it be seen back here again one day? Or will it remain only in our memories and is gone forever from Singapore?

Photos by Khew SK & Chng CK

Butterflies Galore! : Five Bar Swordtail

Butterflies Galore!

The Five Bar Swordtail (Pathysa antiphates itamputi)

This fast-flying "swallowtail" butterfly is always a crowd-pleaser whenever it appears. Usually easier to approach and photograph when it is puddling, the Five Bar Swordtail is unique in the sense that its long tails taper off in a sword-like shape. The colours on the undersides of the wings are also an attractive blend of black, white, yellow and green.

This well-executed shot of the Five Bar Swordtail was taken by ButterflyCircle member Loke PF last weekend at the Dairy Farm Nature Park. The puddling butterfly's colours are brought out effectively on a clear background of pastel green. Note also the little bubble of pee at the tip of the butterfly's abdomen.

Festival of Biodiversity 2013

Festival of Biodiversity 2013
Vivocity 13-14 July



The Festival of Biodiversity 2013!

The Festival of Biodiversity (FOB) is an annual event organized by the National Parks Board in collaboration with the Biodiversity Roundtable. It first started in 2012 and was held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The FOB an event to celebrate Singapore’s natural heritage to bring about greater awareness of the rich biodiversity in Singapore.

ButterflyCircle is a partner and a member of the Biodiversity Roundtable. Last year, ButterflyCircle featured a collage of our members' work at our booth. We also launched our book, "Caterpillars of Singapore's Butterflies". See the blog article here.

This year, ButterflyCircle will be doing a video clip showcasing our members' work and ButterflyCircle's objectives, activities and contributions to promoting butterfly conservation and education in Singapore. The video clip will be played on a 40" LCD screen at the exhibition area of the FOB.

There will be activities for the family! Nature workshops are free on a first-come-first-served basis. There will also be several exhibitions (i.e. 'Our Natural Heritage', 'Animals Specimens Showcase', 'Year of the Snakes in Singapore 2013').

The FOB will be held at Vivo City (Level 1 Central court B & West Boulevard) on the 13th & 14th of July (Sat & Sun) from 10am to 10pm. The launch will be at 11:30am on Saturday and President Tony Tan will be the Guest of Honour!

All ButterflyCircle members are welcomed to join in for the Launch/Opening Ceremony at 11:30am at Vivocity. See you there on Saturday!

Please visit this website for more details: Festival of Biodiversity Website

Butterflies Galore! : Elbowed Pierrot

Butterflies Galore! 
The Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna elvira)

In butterfly photography, one has to look for both the big and small butterflies to fully appreciate their beauty and diversity. Whilst it is easy to spot the larger and more showy and colourful butterflies, many small butterflies often escape the notice of the casual observer. There are a number of butterfly species that have wingspans of 10-30mm. They also fly fast and erratically, and are not easy to spot, much less photograph! In macrophotography, the beauty of a very small butterfly can be brought to larger-than-life details that our eyes do not normally see when in the field.

One such butterfly is the diminutive Elbowed Pierrot. A black-and-white butterfly with thin, thread-like tails, it only has a wingspan no more than 30mm. ButterflyCircle member Anthony Wong shot a close-up of this small butterfly perched at the edge of a leaf at Dairy Farm Nature Park last weekend.  

Butterflies Galore! : Little Maplet

Butterflies Galore!
The Little Maplet (Chersonesia paraka paraka)

This small butterfly is forest dependent and rarely strays outside the sanctuary of the nature reserves in Singapore. It has a habit of flying and then perching under a leaf with its wings spread open. It is usually skittish and is difficult to photograph (due to its behaviour of hiding under leaves). It is the only representative of the genus Chersonesia in Singapore. There have been records of other related species of the genus in Singapore, but none have been reliably seen in recent years.

The life history of the Little Maplet has been successfully recorded on the fig Ficus aurantiaceae (Orange Fig) here. This individual was photographed by ButterflyCircle member Chng CK last weekend in the nature reserves. What is unusual about this shot, is that the Little Maplet was sunbathing on top of a leaf rather than displaying its usual behaviour of hiding under the leaf. The butterfly has also been observed to puddle amongst the leaf litter on the damp forest floor, and occasionally feeding at flowering forest plants.

Life History of the Chequered Lancer

Life History of the Chequered Lancer (Plastingia naga)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Plastingia Butler, 1870
Species: naga de Nicèville, 1884
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 38-45mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Caryota mitis (Arecaceae; common name: Fishtail Palm).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the wings are brown with the forewing adorned with pale yellow hyaline spots in the cell-end and spaces 2, 3, 6 and 7, and a narrow yellow streak in space 1b. A series of interneural yellowish streaks is present in the hindwing. Beneath, the wings bear a striking pattern of black veins and whitish rectangular spots on a black background. The abdomen is black and white banded.

A Chequered Lancer sunbathing with partially open wings.

Another sunbathing Chequered Lancer giving a glimpse of its upperside.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

The Chequered Lancer is moderately common in Singapore. Sightings are rather frequent in nature reserves and in parks where its host plant, the FishTail Palm, is commonly found. The adults are fast flyers and are skittish when disturbed. They have been observed to visit flowers and sunbath in sunny weather, and to puddle on bird dropping.