Life History of the Colour Sergeant

Life History of the Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte subrata)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Athyma Westwood, 1850
Species: nefte Cramer, 1779
Subspecies: subrata Moore, 1858
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 60mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Glochidion brunneum (Euphorbiaceae), G. superbum (Euphorbiaceae) and one un-identified plant in the nature reserve.


The upper- and underside of a female -f neftina Colour Sergeant.


The upper- and underside of a female -f subrata Colour Sergeant.


The upper- and underside of a male Colour Sergeant.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
The adult has a closed cell in the forewing. The upperside of the forewing has contiguous/conjoined white cell post-discal spots from the dorsum to spaces 2 and 3. and confluent post-discal spots in spaces 4, 5 and 6 with their inner edge in line. The sexes are dissimilar. The male is a rich velvety black, with white markings tinged with bluish. The male in Singapore typically has an orange sub-apical spot in space 6 on the forewing upperside. This spot is usually white for males found in the Malay Peninsula. The female occurs in two distinct forms. In the -form neftina (Fruhstorfer) the wings are marked with broad orange-brown stripes arranged in the usual manner. The -form subrata (Moore) is a dark dull chocolate brown, with narrow and rather diffuse tawny brown markings. Both female forms are less abundant than the male, with -f neftina appears to be more common among the two female forms.

A female -f neftina Colour Sergeant.


A female -f subrata Colour Sergeant perching on a leaf in a western wasteland.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour: This species is relatively common in Singapore. Sightings of the fast flying adults are rather frequent and widely distributed, both in nature reserves and urban parks. In sunny weather, both sexes can be found flying in the vicinity of flowering shrubs and taking nectar.


A female -f neftina Colour Sergeant visiting a ripened fruit of the Singapore Rhododendron.


Another female -f neftina Colour Sergeant perching on a leaf of the Singapore Rhododendron.

Early Stages:


Host plant: Glochidion brunneum.


Host plant: Glochidion superbum.


Host plan: an unidentified plant in the nature reserve with leaves playing host to a number of Colour Sergeant caterpillars.

Thus far, two species of Glochidion and one un-identified plant (likely to be a Glochidion sp. too) have been identified as the local host plants. Caterpillars of the Colour Sergeant adopt the same feeding and frass-management routines as described for the Commander and other Athyma species in earlier blog articles.

Two views of an egg of the Colour Sergeant.

The eggs of the Colour Sergeant are laid singly at the tip of a leaf on the host plant. The dark yellowish eggs are somewhat globular in shape, with its surface marked with hexagonal pits and bearing short spines at pit corners, giving them the appearance of minute sea-urchins. Each egg has a diameter of about 1mm.

Two views of a mature egg of the Colour Sergeant. The head and mandibles are visible in the right view.

The egg takes about 2-3 days to hatch. The young caterpillar emerges by eating away part of the egg shell. The rest of the egg shell becomes the first meal for the newly hatched, which has a cylindrical pale yellowish green body covered with many small tubercles and short setae. The head capsule is pale to dark brown in color.


A newly hatched caterpillar of the Colour Sergeant, length: 1.8mm.

Similar to the feeding habit of the other Athyma spp., the 1st instar caterpillar of the Colour Sergeant also feeds from the leaf tip and leaves the midrib intact and protruding. A frass chain is also constructed laboriously by the young caterpillar at the tip of the exposed midrib. Between feeds, the caterpillar rests on either the exposed midrib or the frass chain. In later instars, the caterpillar tends to rest near where the protruding midrib joins the remaining lamina. At this site, it also attempts to camouflage itself with a collection of frass pellets secured with silk threads to the lamina.


Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar of the Colour Sergeant. Length: 5mm.

One 1st instar caterpillar resting on the exposed midrib/frass-chain structure.

After reaching about 4.5-5.0mm in about 3 days, the caterpillar moults to the 2nd instar. The body color of the 2nd instar caterpillar is dark brown with a green undertone. There are a number of small and dark dorsal and lateral patches. Besides tiny tubercles covering most of its body surface, the 2nd instar caterpillar also features short and branched spines dorso-laterally and spiracularly. The head capsule is dark brown and dotted with a number of conical tubercles. This instar lasts about 2-3 days with the body length reaching 6.5-7.0mm.


Two views of a newly moulted 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 4.8mm


2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 6.8mm

The 3rd instar caterpillar has slightly longer dorsolateral spines, with pairs on thoracic segments longer than the rest. Its head capsule is dark brown to black irorated with pale brown tubercles. Broad pale brown markings on abdominal segments 3 and 5 with a diamond-shape outline become increasing prominent during this stage. This instar takes about 3 days to complete with body length reaching about 10-11mm.


Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 8.5mm


Two views of 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage. .Length: 11mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar has much longer dorso-lateral spines which are heavily branched. The body is brown to black in color. Besides conical tubercles, the head capsule also carries some short spines. Broad pale green markings appear on the dorsum of the 1st and 3rd abdominal segments. Also, pale brown to pinkish brown marking appears on the 5th abdominal segment. This instar lasts 3-4 days with body length reaching about 18mm-19mm.


Two views of a newly moulted 4th instar caterpillar, length: 11mm.


Two views of 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage. Lengths: 14.5mm.

In the 5th (final) instar, the branched dorso-lateral spines very well developed on all body segments with those on the meso- and metathorax being the longest. Newly moulted caterpillar has yellowish brown body colour with broad dorsal markings on the 1st and 3rd abdominal segments and a broad black dorsal marking on the 5th abdominal segment. The body base color soon changes to a uniform green color as growth proceeds in this instar, leaving only the saddle marking on the 5th abdominal segment in contrasting reddish/pinkish brown. The dark brown head capsule has much longer and pointed spines.


Two views of 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage. Lengths: 20.5mm.


Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, later in this stage, length: 30mm.

As with other members of the Limenities subgroup, when disturbed, the caterpillar adopts a characteristic posture with the anterior body arched and the head tucked beneath the thorax.
Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar adopting an on-guard stance.

The 5th instar lasts for 4-5 days, and the body length reaches up to 35mm. On the last day, the base body colour changes to yellowish green and then to yellow. Rather large dark markings, roughly circle in shape, also appear laterally.


Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 35mm.

Additional dark patches have appeared dorsally and laterally.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, with base color changed to yellow.

Soon, the caterpillar ceases feeding and wanders around. Eventually it chooses a spot on the underside of branch/stem/leaf and spins a silk pad from which it hangs vertically to take on the pre-pupatory pose.

Pre-pupatory larva of the Colour Sergeant.

Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa suspends itself from the silk pad with no supporting silk girdle. It is almost entirely pale brown in color with segments and parts outlined in a darker shade of brown. A few gold patches also adorn the pupal surface. The abdominal segments are slender, and the thoracic portion being larger and expanded laterally. Dorsally, there are two prominent processes curved towards each other. When disturbed, the abdominal segments flex laterally, and could stay in that position for a period of time. Length of pupae: 23-25mm.

The pupation event of a Colour Sergeant caterpillar.

Three views of a pupa of the Colour Sergeant.


A pupa of the Colour Sergeant sighted on the underside of a leaf in the nature reserve.

After about 5-6 days of development, the pupal skin turns translucent as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The spots and streak on the forewing upperside also become discernible. The next day, the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case, typically during the morning hours.

Three views of a mature pupa of the Colour Sergeant.

The eclosion event of a male Colour Sergeant at 2x speed.

A newly eclosed Colour Sergeant resting on its pupal case.

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 Sunny Chir, Federick Ho,  Khew SK and Horace Tan.

Paradisical Phuket

Paradisical Phuket
The Pearl of the Andaman

A beach scene in front of the hotel where we were staying, with the hills in the background

A last-minute decision on the choice of a short vacation with my wife led us to choose Phuket, an island paradise in Thailand that we last visited back in 1997. As can be expected during this holiday period, flights were packed and hotels were fully booked. However, we were fortunate to get tickets on the low-cost airline JetStar, and secured reservations at a newly completed wing of the Kamala Beach Resort.

The island resort was packed with holiday-maker tourists from continental Europe, Australia and the US. As we were walking around the little shops around the Kamala Beach area where we stayed, it was almost like visiting a city in Europe, surrounded by mainly non-Asians (other than the Thais, of course)! There were very few Asians around, and most of the friendly locals were busy with the tourist season and also the celebrations that came with the start of the first year of a new decade - 2010.

A shot of the Kamala Beach Resort where we stayed

The world-renown Thai hospitality was exceptional, and I can say that very few countries have locals who are so sincerely friendly and honest. With a ready smile and the welcoming greeting "Sawadee kap" everywhere we went, it was refreshing that we felt rather safe in a country that is recently rife with political protests further up north in the Thai capital of Bangkok.

The taxi drivers spoke relatively good English (which can be expected, since English is the common communication language of most foreign tourists) and are honest. For us, after a bad experience with the taxi drivers in Kuching, we were rather cautious about bargaining for fares, after being advised by the hotel staff what the going rates were.

A roadside hawker stall where we had lunch on our first day. It served very good Phad Thai noodles!

However, our fears were unfounded as the two taxi drivers that we encountered quoted very reasonable rates, and one was willing to even wait for us at an appointed place, even though we could have just reneged on our deal and desert him. But as I told my wife, the Thais have a strong belief about bad karma, in that a person who does bad things will suffer just retribution for his misdeeds.

Phuket Island



Phuket, at about 570 sq km, is Thailand's largest island. Phuket's topology is exceptional with 70 percent of its area covered with mountains (the tallest peak is 529m above sea level) which stretch from north to south and the remaining 30 percent being plains located in the central and eastern parts of the island. The island does not have any major rivers except for a total of 9 brooks and creeks.

A typical street scene at Kamala Beach area

The island has many beaches and the number of hotels and resorts is mind-boggling. Tourism appears to be the main source of income for the locals, where all sorts of outdoor activities like diving, island hopping, trekking and so on form most of the tourist activities. Many shops sell the local Thai handicraft and souvenirs, local foodstuff, and also the 'forbidden fruits of modern technology' - pirated DVDs, which can be had for just 100 Baht (or just slightly more than S$4). I noted that the recently launched movie blockbuster, Avatar, was amongst the DVDs being peddled!

Cheap transport is available with the local buses plying the main routes around the island. The bus shelter is a far cry from Singapore's spanking steel and glass bus stops, but is appropriate for the rustic island.

The famous (or should I say, infamous?) Patong Beach, where most of the island's colourful nightlife and shopping is located, is always a must-visit destination for the thousands of tourists to Phuket.

One of several memorials erected for the victims of the 2004 tsunami

As we were walking along the beach at Kamala, we saw several memorials erected for the people who perished as a result of the 26 Dec 2004 tsunami that hit the island. Then, about 5,300 people perished in Thailand in various areas, and many of the Phuket resorts and less robust buildings were wiped out by the massive waves that hit many parts of Asia as a result of the Indian Ocean earthquake.

Unlike many of my previous travels, due to our short stay in Phuket, we decided to skip the rougher mountain treks, and opted to visit the local butterfly park instead.

Phuket Butterfly Garden and Insect World

The Phuket Butterfly Garden is located towards the south of the island, near Phuket Town. A sign at the garden explains the history of the garden, which claims to be "the only genuine butterfly garden" in Thailand. It was founded by Dr Prasit Koysiripong in Feb 1990. The renovated premises featured more educational exhibits with a strong conservation message.

The flight cage, which is about the size of the Penang Butterfly Farm, features lush landscaping and water features. There are areas which display the early stages of the species found in the garden, and lots of information on butterflies.

The breeding of the South American Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) appears to be still as successful as during my last visit in 1997, and the species is common in the Phuket Butterfly Garden. The flight of this species always reminds me of a helicopter, with the long wings flapping ceaselessly as the butterfly flutters around looking for nectar. It is a skittish butterfly, and is not easy to get a good photo of, especially during a hot sunny day. It is likely this subspecies that has made its way down south to Malaysia where ButterflyCircle members saw it on a recent trip there in Pulau Langkawi.

Male/Female shots of the Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) being bred at the Phuket Butterfly Garden

As with many butterfly gardens in Asia, the larger and more showy species, like the Taiwanese Tree Nymph, Dark Blue Tiger, Leopard Lacewing, Clipper, Leaf Butterfly, Scarlet and Great Mormons, and the more common local species like the Common Mormon, Tailed Jay, Lime Butterfly were featured in the flight cage.



The caterpillar breeding section showed several of the more common species found in the garden, including many interpretative signage to explain the species being bred and the life cycle of the butterflies.

Caterpillar rearing cage (above) and a close up of the caterpillar of the Leaf Butterfly (Kallima limborgii)

A section featured sericulture - the rearing of silkworms in order to obtain raw silk. Typically using the larvae of Bombyx mori, silk is harvested from the pupae of the moth and weaved into the final product that is famously sold all over the world - Thai silk.

Happy 2010 !!!

Our New Year's Eve was spent with a quiet dinner at Kamala Beach after a tiring day of shopping at Phuket Town. As expected, the resorts were packed with party-goers and tourists all bent on celebrating the dawn of a new decade. The fireworks started at 11pm and continued way past midnight. It was amazing, the amount of fireworks that were blasting all around us, heralding the start of a new year and a new decade.

Text by Khew SK ; Photos by Khew SK