Demons of Singapore

Demons of Singapore
Featuring Demon Butterflies in Singapore


A Chocolate Demon feeding on the flower of the Torch Ginger. whose leaves also happen to be its caterpillar host plant

Since the beginning of August 2019, one can almost encounter the burning of joss paper, joss sticks, candles and food offerings in most housing estates. The Hungry Ghost Festival, which falls on the 7th month of the Chinese calendar, started on 1 Aug and will continue for a month. The Festival, where Buddhists and Taoists believe that the Gates of Hell opens for a month, to allow spirits and souls from the netherworld to roam freely on Earth, seeking food and other offerings.


The Chinese believe that demons guard the Gates of Hell that are opened during the Hungry Ghost Festival to allow spirits of the departed to roam freely for a month.

A traditional stage set-up during the Hungry Ghost Festival

Other than burning paper offerings, raucous and loud musical and Chinese traditional performances will also liven up heartlands areas as tents are set up to house massive dinners, auctions, operas and, of course, getai­ (“song stage” in Chinese) shows. The last named shows often feature scantily-clad girls who sing a variety of songs in local dialects and Mandarin. If you are planning to catch any of these shows, just be sure to leave the front row seats empty for the “spirits” and demons who supposedly crave such entertainment too!



There are also many superstitions that are followed during this season include refraining from leaving umbrellas open inside the home, as that is believed to invite homeless spirits. Some avoid killing insects (butterflies too!) as they could be deceased ancestors who have been reincarnated. Other no-nos include walking around in dark lonely places like cemeteries or forests, especially at night.



So whilst the spirits, demons and other denizens of the netherworld roam around and seek their freedom for the next 25 days before the Gates of Hell close again for another year, let us take a look at our local demons flying around in Singapore. Our butterfly Demons that is...

1) The Chocolate Demon (Ancistroides nigrita maura)


A pristine Chocolate Demon perches on a leaf in the shade

This urban Hesperiidae (skipper) can usually be found in the vicinity of its caterpillar host plant, the Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior) and other ginger-type plants. It is relatively common and is well distributed across the island. The Chocolate Demon is a large skipper and flies with an erratic and bobbing flight amongst low shrubbery.



The Chocolate Demon has one of the longest proboscis amongst the butterflies found in Singapore

The Chocolate Demon is dark brown above and unmarked. On the underside, however, the marginal areas of both wings appear paler than the ground colour. A unique feature of this butterfly is its long proboscis with which is uses to probe deep into flowers for nectar.


A Chocolate Demon sunbathes in a typical skipper fashion

The species often stops to sunbathe in a typical skipper pose - with its hindwings opened flat whilst its forewings are opened at a 45deg angle to the body. It is often observed to feed on bird droppings and other animal excretions, but is also equally regularly encountered feeding on a variety of flowers, one of which is the Torch Ginger's attractive pink flowers.

2) The Banded Demon (Notocrypta paralysos varians)


A mating pair of Banded Demon

The Banded Demon is another skipper that often stays in the vicinity of its host plant, Costus lucanusianus a species of ginger that grows in the shady understorey in Singapore's nature reserves and other forested areas. It is a rapid flyer and can be skittish as it zips around low amongst the shrubbery. It can also be found in urban parks and gardens, besides the nature reserves.



The Banded Demon is a deep brown above with a distinct white discal band composed of large rounded contiguous spots on the forewing. There is usually a white hyaline spot in space 4 of the forewing, but this spot can be absent in some individuals. The underside, which is a paler purplish-brown is distinctly paler along the wing margins.




The butterfly is usually encountered in the early morning hours of the day, sunbathing with its wings in the usual skipper fashion. It likes to feed on the flowers of the Chinese Violet (Asystasia gangetica), and flies rapidly from flower to flower, using its long proboscis to reach inside the flower for nectar.

3) The Grass Demon (Udaspes folus)


A Grass Demon feeding on the flower of Mussaenda

The last Demon extant in Singapore occurs mainly in urban parks and gardens in the vicinity of its preferred host plant, Turmeric (Cucurma longa), and other gingers. It is regularly found in herb and spice gardens in Singapore, where ginger and turmeric are cultivated. It is a fast-flyer but usually zips around at a low level.




The Grass Demon is dark brown above, with the forewing featuring a white discal fascia comprised of several large white spots. The hindwing has a large white discal patch on the upperside. The underside is paler and appears reddish brown in pristine individuals. The hindwing cilia is chequered in freshly eclosed individuals. The antenna has a whitish band just below the club.


A Grass Demon sunbathes in typical skipper fashion

The butterfly is observed to feed on flowers in the early morning hours. It also likes to puddle on bird droppings and other animal excretions. An often-observed behaviour of the Grass Demon is that when it perches on a top surface of a leaf to sunbathe, it opens and closes its wings rhythmically.

And so we are introduced to the three Demons in Singapore that are not part of the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, but are part of Singapore's butterfly diversity.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Khew SK, Koh CH, Loke PF, Tan CP and Anthony Wong

Butterflies of Australia

Feature Book :
Butterflies of Australia

Recently, a friend who visited Australia sent me some butterfly photos that he took on his trip, for identification. Most were relatively common urban butterflies and were easy to identify. One of the books that I turned to was my favourite personal reference, Butterflies of Australia by Dr Albert Orr and Professor Roger Kitching. Both accomplished and renown biologists and entomologists, the authors intended for the book to be a field guide "for a general readership, and not a scientific monograph".

What is additionally unique about this book, is that all the illustrations of the butterflies, their environment, host plants, caterpillars and so on, are hand-drawn pictures! The amazing pictures in the book itself was illustrated by Dr Orr, an excellent artist in his own right.

The New Guinea Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus) male

This blogpost introduces this excellent book which is great for beginners and the more sophisticated enthusiast alike. Only sample photos of the book are shown here, and for readers who are interested in getting this large 335-page book, you are strongly encouraged to purchase your own copy from reputable bookshops or online.

Introduction to butterflies and useful information about butterflies in Part I of the book

Part 1 of the book covers the mandatory subjects like introduction to Lepidoptera, classification, life cycle, colours and reproduction in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 features the Australian biogeography in relation to butterfly distribution, and where observers can find the various species. Chapter 3 deals with butterflies' relationships with plants and other animals, competition for food and mates and predators. Chapter 4 discusses conservation, gardening and how one can become an avid student of butterflies. For beginners, these first 60 pages of the book would be good to read in greater detail.

Various chapters featuring Australian species from the 5 families of butterflies

The 2nd and more substantial part of the book covers almost all of the 400+ species of Australian butterflies - divided over the 5 families. At the point of writing, the authors probably stayed with the earlier classification where Riodinidae was still classified as a sub-family of the Lycaenidae. The book then ends with references, a good index, and two important checklists of Australian butterflies and larval host plants of Australian butterflies.

A useful appendix listing all the known caterpillar host plants of Australian Butterflies

Part 2 starts with the Hesperiidae, with plates covering the Australian skippers. In keeping with their intent to make this book a readable field guide, the authors grouped the species by their collective English common names, rather than sort them by taxonomic names. This makes the book an easy reference for the Australian (and other) butterfly enthusiasts to search for the various species by their local vernacular names, instead of look for genera and species names.


Typical pages in the book which organises the species by their collective common names, and illustrations of the butterflies, host plants, life histories and distribution in Australia

The Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla) an Australian species that is now extant in Singapore and Malaysia

In these sample pages, the Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla) is featured. This is the same species that was discovered in Singapore back in 1999 by Kelvyn Dunn. The blogpost of that discovery that was documented here on this blog can be found here. This species, a new discovery to Singapore at that time, is now a common species and has even moved up north to Malaysia where it has been spotted regularly.



The New Guinea Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus) female

The next chapter features the spectacular Papilionidae and the mouth-watering Ornithoptera birdwings found in Australia. Although the Papilionidae is represented by only 19 species in Australia, these are some of the most spectacular butterflies to be found in the continent. Large and showy, some of the species are amongst the world's largest butterflies. It is also interesting to note that many of the species that can also be found in Singapore, bear different common names in Australia.



The Ambrax Butterfly (Papilio ambrax) an Australian butterfly fairly common in rainforest in north Queensland's wet tropics region

Graphium sarpedon - Common Bluebottle in Singapore, Blue Triangle in Australia

For example, the Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon) is called the Blue Triangle in Australia, whilst the Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon) is known as the Green-spotted Triangle. Our common urban Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus) goes by the name Chequered Swallowtail in Australia, whilst the Five Bar Swordtail refers to the species Graphium aristeus instead of Graphium antiphates.



The Imperial Jezabel (Delias harpalyce) found in Australia

The Pieridae family follows in the next chapter. Australia has amongst the most beautiful and exotic-looking Delias (or commonly known as Jezebels) in the world. In the book, they are called Jezabels. Amongst the Whites and Sulphurs that are usually associated with the family Pieridae, the Australian Jezabels feature prominently with 8 species extant.



Common urban species that are also found in Singapore - Blue Pansy (Blue Argus in Australia) and Common Tiger (Orange Tiger in Australia)

In Chapter 8 of the book, most of Australia's 81 species of Nymphalids are featured, with twelve sub-families occuring in Australia. There are some species that are also found in Singapore, with the Common Tiger (Danaus genutia) called the Orange Tiger as its local common name. The Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya) and the Chocolate Pansy (Junonia hedonia) are known as the Blue Argus and Brown Soldier respectively in Australia.



The Two Spotted Line Blue (Nacaduba biocellata) was a new discovery for Singapore and is now extant on the island

The butterfly families in the book ends with the Lycaenidae, of which more than 140 species are recorded from Australia, and counting! Amongst the many spectacular blues, coppers and hairstreaks, one species was recently recorded as a new species to Singapore - the Two-Spotted Line Blue (Nacaduba biocellata). An Australian species, it has somehow found its way to Singapore, and is now a permanent resident.


The Sword-tailed Flash (Bindahara phocides) is known as the Plane in Singapore

For a butterfly primer and an introduction to Australian butterflies, this book by Dr Orr and Prof Kitching can be considered one of the best and easy-to-read references available. Enthusiasts who have their own library of butterfly books from all over the world should not miss having this book in their collection.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by David Fischer and Khew SK

Photo plates featured here from the book are copyrighted property of the respective authors and publishers, and samples of the pages from the books are featured here under the principles of fair use.

I have also had the privilege of having Dr Albert Orr review my book, A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore 2010, and the review published in the Australian Entomologist  - Volume 38 Issue 4 (Nov 2011)

Yeomen of Singapore

Yeomen of Singapore

Featuring Singapore's Yeoman butterflies

When I wrote the 1st edition of the Butterflies of Singapore and launched it back in 2010, the extant species from the Cirrochroa genus was only one - the Banded Yeoman (Cirrochroa orissa orissa). References from the early authors indicated that there was only one other species listed from Singapore, the Malay Yeoman (Cirrochroa emalea emalea), but this was described as "have not been taken again in Singapore during the present century" referring to the period from 1901 to 1999.

Subsequent to the publication of the book, a sighting of the Malay Yeoman was recorded in the Central Catchment Nature Reserves in Nov 2013. This was followed by many more observations of this species over the years, suggesting that there is now a viable colony of this species and it is no longer a seasonal migrant in Singapore. There were many sightings of this species in 2018 and even as recent as March 2019 from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Another species, the Common Yeoman, was first sighted at the Singapore Botanic Gardens in May 2015 and a breeding colony continued to exist for over 6 months, with several individuals encountered over this period. Its life history was successfully recorded from this colony. A confirmed sighting was made as recent as Apr 2018, and it is believed that this species can also be considered as a resident species rather than a seasonal migrant or a vagrant. The Common Yeoman was a new discovery for Singapore as it was previously not recorded by the early authors.

This blogpost introduces the three extant Yeoman species in Singapore.

1) The Banded Yeoman (Cirrochroa orissa orissa)

The Banded Yeoman was the only representative of the Cirrochroa genus prior to 2013. Even so, it is moderately rare and only found in the forested areas of the Central Catchment Nature Reserves. Sightings of the Banded Yeoman are sporadic, but regular, and the appearance of this species is rather local in distribution.

The Banded Yeoman is skittish and alert to any movement towards it. It has a habit of perching on the underside of leaves and opening and closing its wings. It is observed to puddle at damp footpaths, feeding on forest flowering plants and sunbathing at sunlit spots under the forest understorey.

The upperside of the Banded Yeoman is ochreous brown with a black apical border and a prominent broad yellow post-discal band. The underside is paler with markings reflecting the upperside of the wings. The upperside of the hindwing bears prominent black spots with scalloped black marginal and sub-marginal lines.

2) The Malay Yeoman (Cirrochroa emalea emalea)

Recorded as a seasonal migrant, it is now believed that the Malay Yeoman is a resident species in Singapore, with regular sightings of the species throughout the year. Another forest-dependent species, the Malay Yeoman displays similar characteristic behaviour as its closely related species, the Banded Yeoman. It is often observed to stop on the underside of leaves with its wings folded upright. It is also observed to puddle at damp footpaths.

The Malay Yeoman is fulvous orange on the upperside with black marginal borders on both wings. A distinctive orange sub-apical spot on the forewing above is a key diagnostic feature of this species. On the underside, the silvery post-discal band is constricted in spaces 5 and 6, which separates this species from another lookalike, Cirrochroa malaya malaya.

One of the habits of the Malay Yeoman is to perch under a leaf upside down

A puddling Malay Yeoman

It is curious to have two closely associated species and I wonder why C. malaya doesn't carry the English common name "Malay Yeoman" whilst C. emalea is the Malay Yeoman. This will probably cause some confusion and perhaps it may be necessary to sort out the common names for these two lookalikes.

3) The Common Yeoman (Cirrochroa tyche rotundata)

Newly discovered in Singapore, the Common Yeoman can be observed at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

The 3rd Yeoman is the most recent to be added to the Singapore Checklist in 2015. It was recorded as a new discovery and may have been a stowaway with the import of plants for the Singapore Botanic Gardens? Its two recorded host plants, Hydnocarpus spp. occur in various parts of Singapore, but rather rare.

A Common Yeoman perched under a leaf with its wings folded upright

The Common Yeoman is fulvous orange on the upperside, but lacks the wide black apical border that the Malay Yeoman has. There is a series of scalloped marginal and sub-marginal black lines and post-discal spots on the hindwing. On the underside, the post-discal silvery band is narrow and more or less uniform in width throughout its length.

The Common Yeoman has been observed to puddle on damp footpaths but can sometimes be seen sunbathing with its wings opened flat. It also displays the same habit of perching under a leaf with its wings folded upright, like the other two Cirrochroa species found in Singapore. However, unlike the other two species, the Common Yeoman is so far the only one that is observed in an urban garden.

There are at least 3 more species of the genus found in Malaysia, and should be looked out for in the forested areas of Singapore. Perhaps one or more may make an appearance in Singapore one day in the future.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Alan Ang, Khew SK, Koh CH, Loh MY, Horace Tan, Irene Tan and Jonathan Soong