Life History of the Great Orange Awlet

Life History of the Great Orange Awlet (Burara etelka)



Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Burara de Nicéville, 1895
Species: etelka Hewitson, 1866
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 60mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Combretum sundaicum (Combretaceae)

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Burara etelka (The Great Orange Awlet) is a rather large species with the wingspan up to 1cm longer than the look-alike and more common species, Burara harisa (The Orange Awlet). Above, the male is dark brown with no brand; the female is dark brown with basal halves of all wings shining greenish blue. Underneath, both sexes are shaded orange with the hindwings particularly so. Basal halves of the forewings are shaded purplish blue, more extensive and shining in the female. Both sexes have orange tornal cilia on the hindwings. The head, legs and the ventral surface of the the thorax are colored orange. Numerous orange hairs are also featured on the thorax and abdominal segments.


Two Burara etelka resting on stems in the nature reserve.


Another Burara etelka found in the nature reserve.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
The adult of this species is rarely encountered in Singapore, due likely to their habit of being more active at dawn and dusk. In contrast, the caterpillars are more readily found in leaf shelters on its host plant, Combretum sundaicum, which is a common creeping weed in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. As typical with other skippers, the adults fly with swift, strong and darting flights.

Early Stages:


Host plant: Combretum sundaicum.

The eggs are laid singly on the leaf upperside of a middle-aged or mature leaf of the host plant. Each egg is creamy white with a beige tinge. It is dome-shaped with a flat base. The micropylar sits atop and a number of vertical ridges running longitudinally from it. The diameter is about 1.2mm.


Two views of an egg of Burara etelka


Mature egg with a faint view of the head (left), empty egg shell (right)

It takes 3 days for the collected egg to hatch. The young caterpillar eats just enough of the shell to emerge, and has a length of about 3mm. Its pale brown body is cylindrical in shape with rather long lateral and sub-spiracular white setae. The large head is pale brown with black markings and bears similar white setae as those on the body. All instars of Burara etelka caterpillars feed on either the middle-aged or mature leaves of Combretum sundaicum, and ignore the young and tender leaves on new shoots.


Newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3mm

The body soon takes on a green undertone after a few feeding sessions on the leaf. Its movement on leaf was observed to be rather quick-paced. As the growth continues in this first instar, faint lateral markings start to appear. By the time the caterpillar lies dormant for its moult to the 2nd instar, its length has reached 6mm and black rings are discernible on the body, one to each segment. The 1st instar takes a total of 2 days to complete.


1st instar caterpillar, length: 4mm


1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length:6mm.

The body of the 2nd instar caterpillar has a ringed appearance with a black ring of irregular thickness and 4-5 white and yellow rings on each segment. The head is pale orange with two horizontal black stripes. Both the head and the body also feature short white setae. This instar lasts a total of 3 days with the body length reaching about 11-12mm.


2nd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 7mm


2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage. Lengths: 10mm (top); 12mm (bottom).

The 3nd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely in markings and coloration. This instar lasts a total of 3-5 days with the body length reaching about 18-19mm.


3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage. Length: 11.5mm.


3nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage. Length: 14mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar is bright yellow in body color. A prominent and broad dorsal black stripe, running from the prothorax to the 7th abdominal segment, is featured with two finer white band embedded within. Each body segment has a large and irregularly-shaped black spot laterally, of which several are connected to the dorsal stripe. The head is orange with a broad black central and vertical stripe (split at upper end) crossed by two black horizontal stripes, giving it a close resemblance to some Chinese Opera masks. Both the body and the head also sport numerous short setae. This instar lasts 3-5 days with the body length reaching up to 28-29mm.


4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 20mm


4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 25mm

The 5th instar caterpillar has similar body color and markings to the 4th instar caterpillar with the only discernible difference being a greater proportion of black in the dorsal band, lateral body spots and head stripes. This instar takes about 4-6 days to complete with the body length reaching 37-38mm.


Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage. Length: 26mm.

As is typical of most hesperiid species, the caterpillars of Burara etelka also build leaf shelters on the host plant. Typically a fragment of the leaf lamina is cut and folded inwards and secured with silk threads to create a sufficiently large void of space in which the caterpillar rests and hides between feeds.


The leaf shelter of a late instar caterpillar of Burara etelka sighted in the western nature
reserve with a bird paying close attention to it nearby.

A short sequence of a 5th instar caterpillar chomping on leaf lamina.

The 6th and final instar caterpillar continues the increase of the proportion of the dark color in various markings to the extent that the dark color switches its role to become the base color. Now yellow color is confined to oval lateral spots, a pair to each body segment. The dark base color reveals itself as dark reddish brown upon closer look. Again, numerous short and white setae covers the body and the head. This stage takes about 9-12 days to complete with the body length reaching 65-66mm.


6th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 39mm


6th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 55mm


The interesting change in appearance of markings on the posterior abdominal segments
from the 3rd to the 6th instar (left to right).

At the end of 6th instar, the body of the caterpillar shortens rather drastically to about 35mm in length. Soon it becomes dormant in its leaf shelter and enters the prepupatory phase which lasts for one day.


Two views of a pre-pupa of Burara etelka.

Pupation takes place within the leaf shelter. The pupa secures itself with its cremaster attached to a short transverse band on the leaf surface, and has a silk girdle. It has a short thorax, a rather long abdomen, a short and pointed rostrum. The body is initially pale pink to purplish with large yellow lateral spots and black markings. However within a day all yellow spots fade away with the base color becoming milky white. Length of pupae: 30-32mm.


Two views of a fresh pupa of Burara etelka


Two views of a pupa of Burara etelka, length: 30mm

After 9 days, the pupa becomes mostly black in color in the wing pads and in the body segments. Eclosion takes place the next day.


Two views of a mature pupa of Burara etelka, shortly before the eclosion event.

A newly eclosed Burara etelka drying its wings.

Another newly eclosed Burara etelka

Note: The above life history record is based on observations of three larvae collected and bred over their last three instars, yet another over its last five instars, and one bred from a collected egg, on five separate occasions over a period of 1.5 years. Six instars were evident in the last two larvae bred. However this does not preclude the possibility of utilization of five instars, typically of most hesperiid speces, in other Burara etelka larvae.

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

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Khew SK and Horace Tan

ButterflyCircle Announces Upgraded OnLine Checklist

Upgraded OnLine Checklist for Butterflies of Singapore

After a few months of conceptualising, redesigning and coding the online photo checklist for the Butterflies of Singapore, ButterflyCircle is pleased to announce the new and revamped checklist is up and running. Whilst minor glitches are being tweaked, and more information will be added progressively, the checklist can now be used as a good photographic reference to identify butterflies that you've shot, or just to check information on species of butterflies found in Singapore.

Place your mouse over the left sidebar "Family" to select individual family, or Grid or List view according to your viewing preference

The revamped ButterflyCircle Checklist features a professional-look with black background and an attractive layout featuring some of the best shots of the species taken by ButterflyCircle members. For a start, the new mouse-over feature at the menu bar allows a user to select the families via a click of the mouse on one of the six butterfly families featured in the circular graphics.

A sample Grid view, showing the species of the family Papilionidae

Users can select an option of viewing the checklist in a Grid format, or a List Format, depending on personal preferences. Place your mouse over the sidebar "FAMILY" to get a slide out menu for more options. For users with extremely slow access, a non-graphical checklist is advisable and this can be viewed by clicking on the word "CHECKLIST" at the top of the screen.

For non-broadband users, or those with really slow access speeds, you can also choose to use the checklist without the graphics to speed up loading time

For details of a particular species, click on any of the photos or names of the butterfly species, and you will be brought to a new screen showing a larger view of the species, as well as other photos (where available). A neat feature with the mouse-over allows a user to view a larger shot by merely placing your mouse pointer over the other photos. Where available, more photos can be accessed via the "Click here to view more photos" link.

A typical page featuring a particular species. The neat mouse-over feature allows users to view larger format photos easily

Below the photos, are the write ups and details for the particular species. Also, where available, early stages of the species are also featured, showing egg, caterpillar and pupa of the species selected.

Detailed write-up of the species and early stage photos (where available)

For users who have shot a caterpillar or a pupa, and who want to search graphically, click on the links for "Egg", "Caterpillar" or "Pupa" at the menu at the top of the page, and you can view the photos of one of the three early stages in the Grid format only.

Early Stages page featuring the caterpillars of Papilionidae in a Grid View

The list also features the host plants which will progressively be populated with pictures and more details of the host plants.

ButterflyCircle hopes that you will find the enhanced online checklist useful. However, please be reminded that the photos in the checklist are the work of our members who own the copyright to the photos. Please respect their copyright and do not use the photos elsewhere, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes without the approval of the photographer.

If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions to further improve the checklist, please email us at hexaglider@yahoo.com or inckurei@hotmail.com

Design and coding of ButterflyCircle OnLine Checklist by Anthony Wong

Copyright Notice :

The content available on or through ButterflyCircle’s website and checklist, including but not limited to all text, graphics, images, or other files, as well as their selection and arrangement, (collectively, the "content") are protected by copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary rights or laws. All such content is presented as a service to users of ButterflyCircle or its members and may not be copied, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without ButterflyCircle’s or the copyright owner’s prior written permission, except that such content may be viewed, downloaded, printed and distributed for your personal, non-commercial use. Any copy of the content or portion thereof must retain all proprietary notices of ButterflyCircle’s or the copyright owner. Any other use of the content from this website without ButterflyCircle’s prior written authorization is prohibited.

Butterfly of the Month - June 2009

Butterfly of the Month - June 2009

The Palm King (Amathusia phidippus phidippus)

A Palm King perches on the leaves of its host plant the Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera)

This month, we feature a species from the sub-family Morphinae. The sub-family Morphinae is represented by usually large and showy butterflies. A feature of many of the species In the subfamily is the enormous size of the wings in relation to that of the body of the butterfly. Most prefer the habitat of the heavily shaded forest understory and tend to stay still for long periods of time unless disturbed. The majority of the species keep close to the forest floor, usually no more than a few centimeters from the ground, and, as they have cryptic and drab coloured undersides, are excellent at camouflaging themselves amongst the forest leaf litter. A number of the species feed greedily on rotting fruits on the forest floor. Most of the species’ caterpillars feed on monocotyledons, in particular Palmae, and the caterpillars are large and hairy, resembling those of moths.

The moth-like caterpillar of the Palm King

The Palm King belongs to the genus Amathusia, which comprise several species which look very similar, of which identification of the species may prove somewhat challenging. The Palm King, is the most wide-spread of the species. The male has rather obscure buff markings on the upperside, whilst the female is paler with yellower and more contrasted markings.

The underside features pale bands with a slight violet tinge. The tornal area of the hindwing is pronounced, but blunt, with black spots. There are two white-centred large ocelli on the underside of the hindwings.

The Palm King is usually found in the vicinity of coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) groves. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the coconut palm. Given the nature of the species, it is likely that other palms, e.g. Oil Palm and other species of Palmae may also be host plants to the caterpillars of the Palm King.

The butterfly is crepuscular in habit, and is often attracted to the lights of houses. In Singapore, it has also been seen on the walls of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) high rise apartments as high as the 7th storey on one particular occasion! It settles with its wings folded upright, and generally stays still unless disturbed. We have also observed individuals of the Palm King ending up as food for the common house lizard (gecko, or locally called the "chichak") back in Malaysia, as the butterflies are attracted to the lights of houses in the evenings.

The Palm King tends to hide amongst trunks of trees during the day, and can be quite skittish when approached. Its brown colouration gives it a nature camoflage as it perches, usually upright, on trunks of trees or brown leaves and stems. It takes off in a capable fashion when disturbed, with a strong erratic flight, but it usually does not fly far, quickly settling down on another perch where it is able to camouflage itself again.

A Palm King sharing the sap of a tree with two Common Palmflies

The butterfly is also observed feeding on rotting fruits, sap of trees and forest litter at times, and is quite often seen in gardens, feeding on the flowers of the Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior)

A Palm King feeding on rotting watermelon

The Palm King is considered moderately rare, and is not often seen with regularity, despite the fact that its host plants are found with relative abundance. It is observed in the forested areas, coastal parks as well as urban areas, and usually individuals are seen.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Jacqueline Lau, James F, Michael Lim, Sunny Chir, Simon Sng, Federick Ho & Khew SK

Life History of the Scarce Silverstreak

Life History of the Scarce Silverstreak (Iraota rochana boswelliana)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Iraota, Moore,1881
Species: rochana Horsfield, 1829
Sub-species: boswelliana, Distant, 1855
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 36mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Ficus microcarpa `Golden' (Moraceae, common name: Indian Laurel Fig), Ficus benjamini (Morrel, 1957).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the male is dark brown with greenish blue at base of the forewing below the cell and between veins 1-6 of the hindwing; the female is entirely brown. Underneath, both sexes are buff to reddish brown with areas of white streaks and spots. The forewing has a longitudinal silvery white streak in the cell, and the discal spot in space 4 is elongated and nearly reaching the termen. The hindwing has a broad basal streak running along the costa up to the termen. Both sexes have the hindwing tailed at veins 1b and 2, the latter being longer. There is also an additional stumpy tail (or tooth) at vein 3 for both sexes. All tails are white-tipped.


A female Scarce Silverstreak perching near its host plant.


A maler Scarce Silverstreak enjoying the ripened fruit of the
Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum).


A female Scarce Silverstreak sunbathing on its host plant, giving us a view of its
brown upperside.


A male Scarce Silverstreak proudly displaying its striking upperside.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
This species is uncommon in Singapore. Sightings have been reported at a few sites around the main island, with the Sourthern Ridges being the most likely place for an encounter. The adults fly rapidly and may sometimes be missed due to the speed at which they fly around. Between the two sexes, the female is more likely to be sighted, especially when they make ovipoisiton visits to the ficus hedges in hill parks. The males usually stay high at tree-top level, and rarely perch low enough for any good photo captures. Both sexes visit flowers for nectar.

Early Stages:

The local host plant, Ficus microcarpa `Golden' is a strangling fig with numerous, slender aerial roots growing from branches, some of which developing into trunk-like pillar roots. Leaves are blunt, with young leaves on new shoots bright yellowish green. Formerly found on coastal and riverine situations, this species is now very common in all parts of Singapore where they are typically used roadside hedges or as ornamental plants in gardens.


Host plant: Ficus microcarpa 'golden'.
Left: young tree with hanging aerial roots; Right: close-up on young leaves.


A mating pair of the Scarce Silverstreak.


A mother Scarce Silverstreak laying one egg on the leaf underside of the host plant.

Eggs of Scarce Silverstreak are laid singly on the stem or the leaf underside of the host plant. The freshly egg is covered in a dark yellowish viscous coating which dries up in a matter of few hours to give the egg a bright yellowish appearance. The egg is shaped like a burger bun with many irregular polygonal pits, and has its micropylar lying at the polar position encircled with a number of smaller pits. The egg is rather large for a lycaenid species with a diameter of about 1.2mm.


Three views of an egg of the Scarce Silverstreak, diameter is about 1.2mm.
Left: a freshly laid egg. Right and middle: 5-hour old egg.

Pics of a mature egg showing the ``infant'' larva eating egg shell to create a sufficiently large exit.

The egg hatches after 2.5-3 days of development. The young larva spends a couple of hours eating away the top portion of the egg shell in order to make its exit. The newly hatched is orangy brown with darker lateral bands. It has long dorsal setae and sub-spiracular setae. Length: about 2mm. Soon after its emergence, the newly hatched turns around and works meticulously at nibbling away the empty egg shell. It only moves on to eating the leaf when it has consumed almost the entire egg shell.

A newly hatched Scarce Silverstreak eating its egg shell.

The 1st instar grazes on the surface of the young leaves, and grows to a length of about 4mm in about 1.5 to 2 days before the moult to the next instar. Prior to the moult, the caterpillar shortens to about 3mm and stays dormant for up to half a day. This body shortening routine occurs for every subsequent moult.


Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 3.8mm.

A shortened 1st instar caterpillar lying dormant before the moult to 2nd instar, length: 3mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar is orangy brown and features faint and obscure dorsal markings. It has lost the long dorsal setae seen in the 1st instar, but ts body is covered with numerous short setae. The prothoracic shield has the same color as the base color and thus does not stand out. This instar lasts for 2-3 days, and the body length increases to about 8mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 6mm.

The 3rd instar caterpillar initially resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar with its orangy brown body color and short setae. As the caterpillar grows rapidly in 2 days up to a length of 14-15mm, the caterpillar gradually takes on varying shades of green. While some caterpillars retain a large degree of brown coloration, there are others which turn light green. Towards the end of this instar, prior to the moult, two dorsal-lateral brown markings appear on the 1st abdominal segment, and faint reddish brown saddle markings appear on the 5th abdominal segment.


Two 3rd instar caterpillars, lengths: 10mm (top); 8.5mm (bottom).

3rd instar caterpillars, late in this stage, lengths: 15.5mm (top); 14mm (bottom)

One 3rd instar caterpillar found on the underside of a leaf in Southern Ridges.
Note the presence of an attending ant.

The 4th (and final) instar caterpillar is similar in appearance to the late 3rd instar caterpillar. Color variations from the light brown form to the green form can observed from those seen in the wild and those bred in indoor environment. It is also observed that caterpillars of the light brown form become much greener as the instar progresses. For some caterpillars, the two dorsal-lateral markings on the 1st abdominal segment and the saddle marking on the 5th abdominal segment are rather prominent, but for others, these markings can be rather faint or even absent.


Another 4th instar caterpillar, light brown form, early in this stage, length: 16mm



4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 25mm


Another 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 27mm.
This one developed into a male adult.
Note the different ant species attending it as compared to the field shot of
a 3rd instar caterpillar featured earlier.

After 4-5 days of growth and reaching a maximum length of around 27mm in the 4th (and final) instar, the body of the caterpillar gradually shortens, and the color intensifies to either a dark green or deep purplish red. The caterpillar eventually comes to rest on a spot on the leaf surface for its pupation. At the chosen spot, the caterpillar readies itself for pupation by spinning a silk pad and a few silk strands across its body. The caterpillar secures itself to the silk pad via claspers on its posterior end.


Two views of a pre-pupa of the Scarce Silverstreak,

The pupation event of a Scarce Silverstreak caterpillar.

Pupation takes place after one day of the pre-pupal stage. The pupa has the typical lycaenid shape. It is covered in various violet red patches which eventually turns to various shades of brown which remains for most of the remaining pupal period of 9 days. Each pupa has a length of about 13.5-14.5mm.


Two views of a newly formed pupa of the Scarce Silverstreak,


Two views of a pupa of the Scarce Silverstreak.

Eight days later, the pupa becomes darkened in color signaling the imminent emergence of the adult. The markings on the upperside of the forewing become visible through the pupal skin, and it is now possible to tell the gender of the soon-to-emerge adult. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the mature pupa.


Mature pupae: Female (bottom); Male (top). Note the difference in the wing pads.


A newly eclosed female Scarce Silverstreak

References:

• The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.
• Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Benedict Tay, Sunny Chir, Khew SK and Horace Tan