Down Memory Lane - Orange Gull

Down Memory Lane
The Orange Gull (Cepora iudith malaya)

The Orange Gull is a distinctive Pierid in that the whole of the underside of the hindwing is yellow with the tornal area dark orange and brown marginal borders.  It is not likely to be confused with any other species in the family when at rest.  On the upperside the wings are predominantly white with black veins but the tornal half of the hindwing is a bright yellow. The species is often observed puddling at sand banks with other butterflies.

This species was recorded in Singapore by the early authors, and has been described in C&P4 as "widely distributed on the plains in Malaya, occurring from the Langkawi Islands in the north to Pulau Ubin and Singapore in the south." However, the Orange Gull has not been reliably seen in Singapore since the early 90's, and there has been no sign of it on Pulau Ubin either. It is not known why this relatively common Pierid disappeared from Singapore. Will it be back here again one day? Or will it remain only in our memories and is gone forever from Singapore?

This is the 500th post on this blog.

Butterflies Galore!

Butterflies Galore!
The Fluffy Tit (Zeltus amasa maximinianus)

Bird droppings and other mammalian excretions appear to contain nutrition that some butterflies like to feed on. In the forests, we have often seen butterflies, especially some Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae, feeding greedily on bird droppings. Even when disturbed, a hungry butterfly will return repeatedly to its precious food source.

This Fluffy Tit was photographed feeding on this bird dropping on a leaf last Sunday by ButterflyCircle member Goh EC. The butterfly was quite tame, staying still for periods of time just feeding. At times, it turned around repeatedly, and continued feeding, almost as if it was looking for a better spot to get more nutrients from the bird dropping.

Life History of the Tree Flitter

Life History of the Tree Flitter (Hyarotis adrastus praba)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Hyarotis Moore, 1881
Species: adrastus Stoll, 1780
Sub-species: praba Moore, 1865
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 34-38mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Daemonorops augustifolia (Arecaceae; common name: Water Rattan Palm).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the wings are dark brown with the forewing adorned with white hyaline spots in the cell-end and spaces 2, 3, subapical spots in spaces 6,7 and 8, and another in space 1b. Underneath, the wings are dark brown with an irregular white discal fascia on the hindwing. The cilia are chequered on both wings. The antenna has a white patch below the apicus.

A sun-bathing Tree Flitter.

A newly eclosed Tree Flitter with partially open wings.

A Tree Flitter taking nectar from Syzygium flowers.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

The Tree Flitter is moderately rare in Singapore. Infrequent sightings are restricted to the edges of the nature reserve and at times in urban parks and gardens. The adults are fast flyers and zipped around rapidly at close to ground level most of the time. They have been observed to visit flowers and sunbath in sunny weather, and to puddle on bird dropping.

Happy 6th Birthday, ButterflyCircle Blog!

Happy 6th Birthday, ButterflyCircle Blog!

Over 6 years ago, I was persuaded by my nature-lover friends, Ria Tan and November Tan, to start a blog to share all the photos, stories and information about butterflies in Singapore. Already veteran bloggers at that time, both Ria (who blogs at Wild Shores of Singapore) and November (who maintains her Midnight Monkey Monitor) were sharing useful nature conservation news and initiatives on the Internet.  At that time, I was also inspired by Dr Wee Yeow Chin's Bird Ecology Study Group's articles, where Dr Wee's frequent posts brought the behaviour and observations of birds to life in a very simple and engaging manner to the nature community.

After fiddling around with various blog software packages, I settled on Blogspot, as it was a popular platform, and relatively easy to use. A maiden post on 16 Aug 2007 started off this journey of blogging.  Even so, I was still hesitant about blogging, as I knew that it would take time, research and a lot of commitment and perseverance to sustain the effort. It was only a few months later in November 2007 that I began posting articles in earnest, setting myself a conservative target of at least one article per week.

After starting the blog, I also noticed that there were other local butterfly enthusiasts jumping on the blogging bandwagon, and recording their own experiences and observations about butterflies. In fact, some even had two or more blogs! However, it's often easy to start something, but to sustain it is another matter altogether. The majority of these blogs are now covered with cobwebs and some of them last posted something back in 2009 and have not been updated since! I wonder why these people don't just shut down the blogs completely, rather than leave a trail of miserable 'ghost town' blogs in their wake.

Anyway, with nearly 500 posts on this blog, we have come a long way since that initial post back in 2007. I must convey my sincere thanks to Horace Tan, who has done awesome work on the Life History series on this blog, that is second to none in this region. Horace has meticulously documented many butterfly life histories with such detail that each article is actually a research project in itself!

Special thanks also, to the occasional contributors like Sunny Chir, Ellen Tan, Federick Ho, Tan BJ, Goh LC, and all the wonderful photos from the larger community at ButterflyCircle, who have generously agreed to allow Horace and me to feature their work in our articles.

This blog is dedicated to the hardworking photographers and members of ButterflyCircle, and I hope that this blog will continue to spread the awareness and beauty of Nature's Flying Jewels for many more years to come! Happy 6th Birthday to the Butterflies of Singapore Blog!

Main Contributors : Khew SK & Horace Tan

Down Memory Lane - Clipper

Down Memory Lane
The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia lilacinus)

This large and showy butterfly used to fly in the forested areas of Singapore, according to the early authors, who listed this species, the Clipper, as extant on their checklist for Singapore. The upperside of the Clipper is black with blue and green lines and stripes, with a large white post-discal patches on the forewing. The underside is similarly marked, but paler, and with the wing bases shaded a light blue. With an average wingspan of 40mm and more, it can hardly be missed.

It is able to fly strongly, gliding rapidly from perch to perch, usually stopping with its wings opened flat. The Clipper is a 'regular' at commercial butterfly parks in Malaysia. It is one of the species that is often seen at the Changi Airport Terminal 3 Butterfly Garden's butterfly aviary, which imports pupae from the Penang Butterfly Farm on a regular basis. It has not been reliably seen in the wild in Singapore for over 30 years. Why did it disappear from Singapore? Were its host plants wiped out? Will it be back here again one day? Or will it remain only in our memories and is gone forever from Singapore?

Butterflies Galore! : King Crow

Butterflies Galore!
The King Crow (Euploea phaenareta castelnaui)

This "Crow" is the largest representative of its genus Euploea, which comprise butterflies that are predominantly black or blue with white streaks and spots. As the caterpillars of the species of this genus feed on mainly lactiferous plants which are known to be toxic, all the Euploea species are believed to be distasteful to predators. Hence collectively, the black/blue with white streaks/spots appearance of the "Crows" are considered to be a form of aposematic colouration display to warn predators of their distastefulness.

This King Crow was photographed at Pasir Ris Park Butterfly Garden. It is a "resident" species at the Pasir Ris Park Mangrove area, where its preferred caterpillar host plant, Cerbera odollam (Pong Pong Tree) grows in abundance. The butterflies are often spotted making forays to feed at the flowering plants at the nearby Butterfly Garden or when the Syzygium trees along the footpaths of the park bloom.

Butterflies Galore! : Narrow Spark

Butterflies Galore!
The Narrow Spark (Sinthusa nasaka amba)

This small butterfly was a new discovery for Singapore when it was first discovered in 1995 during a survey. It is rather local in distribution in Singapore, preferring to remain in the shady understorey of the forested nature reserves. It can be considered a forest-dependent species, as it is rarely, if ever, seen in urban parks and gardens. At a glance it resembles the Common Tit or Dark Tit. However, having only two white-tipped filamentous tails will distinguish it from the four-tailed Common or Dark Tit.

Photographing this species is always challenging, as it prefers to lurk in areas where there is low light. Coupled with its small size and often having to deal with the light breezes under the forest canopy pushes the photographer and his equipment to the limit. This well-taken shot, by ButterflyCircle member Jonathan Soong, certainly does justice to this pretty little butterfly and demonstrates the skill and determination of the photographer too!