Another Exotic Visitor Reaches Singapore's Shores

The Indian Red Admiral lands in Singapore

Around this time last year, Singapore had an American "Lady" visiting us. The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) was seen at three separate locations in Singapore and successfully photographed by ButterflyCircle members.

It was therefore without much surprise that again, another similar-looking butterfly was seen again near the same location where the Painted Lady was spotted last year. It was photographed on 23 Dec 08 by ButterflyCircle member James Chia, and then on a subsequent day by Sunny Chir and Federick Ho.

However, upon closer scrutiny, this was no American visitor! The species was confirmed to be the Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica indica Herbst, 1794), a close relative of the Painted Lady!

Described on Wikipedia as being "found in the higher altitude regions (above 2000 feet) of India including the Nilgiri hills in southern India. It also occurs on smaller hill ranges in Peninsular India such as the Nandi hills near Bangalore", it again poses another mystery of how it got this far south to Singapore! Another website records it as "East and South Asia, and also the Canary Islands and Madeira; migrates actively northwards and appears regularly in SE Siberia (up to Kamchatka)." It has also been reported from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China and as far east as Japan.

As the local butterfly parks are not known to feature this species as part of their live collections, it is unlikely to have been an escapee from these facilities. Whilst it could have been introduced by human agency or accidentally stowed away on a ship that was passing this way, the Indian Red Admiral belongs to a genus of butterflies that is known for their strong migratory tendencies with large flight ranges, and it would not be totally impossible that this species somehow flew all the way here from the Indian SubContinent! It could also have come from Thailand, the nearest neighbouring country where the species is known to exist. But whatever the case may be, Singapore records a new species in the Checklist with this single specimen of the Indian Red Admiral.

On the Butterflies of Sri Lanka website, the Indian Red Admiral is reported to be "... an active butterfly that may be seen day after day in the same location". This habit appears to have held true, as the same individual was seen over 3 days at an urban hill park in Singapore.

The Indian Red Admiral resembles the Painted Lady but the ground-colour is darker both on the upper and under sides, and the orange markings deeper and richer. A medium sized dark gray brown butterfly with reddish orange and white markings. The forewing has orange patches forming a post-discal band, and white apical and subapical spots. The hindwing above is mainly light brown with a series of black submarginal spots on an orange submarginal band. The underside has a blotched appearance with many shades and patterns of brown and gray.

It has a strong flight, and may be territorial, but often stops to feed. It is observed to be partial to human perspiration and has been noted to settle on humans to feed on sweat.

The caterpillars of this species are known to feed on nettles (Family : Urticaceae).

So Singapore welcomes the Indian Red Admiral and has species #285 recorded in its Checklist. It is not known where the individual has flown to, or whether it has ended up in the stomach of a hungry predator or it may have continued its journey southwards. But we hope that we will continue to get visits from these strong migratory visitors during the North-East Monsoon season, where the northern winds may carry unexpected butterflies to our little Red Dot of an island in the sun!

A fitting end to the butterfly biodiversity in Singapore for 2008!

Happy New Year! : )

Text by Khew SK ; Photos by James Chia, Sunny Chir and Federick Ho

References :

• Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopaedia - Vanessa indica
• Butterflies of Sri Lanka - Indian Red Admiral
• Natural History Museum, London - Vanessa indica - voucher specimen
• Oleg Kosterin, Institute of Cytology & Genetics - Vanessa indica

Lepidoptera exotica - Part 2

Lepidoptera exotica Pt 2 : The Vagrants
Exotic butterfly species in Singapore

The Indian Red Admiral, a medium elevation species, was spotted in Singapore at Mt Faber Park in 2008

In this 2nd part of exotic (or non-native) butterflies spotted in Singapore, we investigate a handful of species that has mysteriously appeared in Singapore, and then were not seen again, with long intervals between sightings. For some of these species, they were spotted only once and have not appeared since. Although they were added to the list of butterflies found in Singapore, they are considered "vagrants" or "strays" and will not be assessed under the IUCN guidelines in the forthcoming Singapore Red Data Book 3rd Edition.

The Red Helen is a common species in Malaysia, but has been reliably recorded only once in recent years in Singapore

In the animal world, a vagrant is described as "a migratory animal that is off course" or "an animal occurring beyond its normal range; an accidental or nomadic organism." This applies to butterflies that are found straying into an environment where they are normally not found, or beyond their normal known geographical range. They are classified as non-natives or exotics.


A solitary Red Spot Sawtooth was observed in the Central Catchment Nature Reserves in 2014

Vagrancy is characterised by these species' random and unpredictable appearance without any particular explanation or reason. This is opposed to what we refer to as "migrants" or "seasonal migrants" which appear from time to time during certain seasons, and repeatedly appear over a period of several years. Some even have colonies or extend their stay over several generations, before disappearing, and then re-appearing again.


The Great Jay was recorded puddling in the Central Catchment Nature Reserves in 2014

We take a look at some of these "vagrant" or "stray" species that have appeared and reliably recorded by observers over the years.

1) The Red Helen (Papilio helenus helenus)



The Red Helen is a common species in Malaysia, and at times, relatively large congregations can be found at their favourite puddling spots on moist sandy streambanks. Although it is usually associated with forested habitats, it has sometimes also been spotted in some urban parks and gardens in Malaysia.



Some time in 2014, a single Red Helen was photographed at the National University of Singapore area in Kent Ridge. It was feeding at the flowers of Ixora and there was no doubt about the identity of the Red Helen shot that day. How it came to be at that location remains a mystery, as this species has not be recorded in the early authors' checklists before.



A large Swallowtail, the Red Helen superficially resemble the two extant species in Singapore - the Great Helen and Blue Helen. However, the complete series of red ocelli on the marginal area of the underside of the hindwing instantly sets it apart from the other two species.

2) The Great Jay (Graphium eurypylus mecisteus)



Also spotted and photographed in 2014, a solitary Great Jay was spotted within the Central Catchment Nature Reserves. A relatively battered individual was observed puddling at a sandy streambank. This suggests that this wayward species could have made its way into Singapore on its own steam, as the Graphiums are known to be powerful flyers and are likely to travel long distances.



The Great Jay is relatively rarer than many of its related cousins, so it was a surprise that a stray ended up in Singapore. From all our contemporary records, it appears to be the only time this species has been found in Singapore. Fortunately, the photograph of this species was good enough to identify it without a doubt.



The Great Jay is almost indistinguishable from the closely related species. The distinguishing marking on the underside of the hindwing is the red-centred costal bar with is conjoined with the basal band. It is fast-flying and hard to identify if it had not stopped to puddle during the chance encounter back in 2014. Again it is considered another vagrant to Singapore.

3) The Red Spot Sawtooth (Prioneris philonome themana)



Another vagrant that visited Singapore, also in 2014, was the Red Spot Sawtooth. A powerful flyer and skittish butterfly, a Red Spot Sawtooth was spotted feeding at a flowering tree in the nature reserves in Singapore. Again, it stopped long enough for a photo to be taken and identified.


This vagrant species was observed only once in 2014 in Singapore

It was the only encounter of this species on record, and this vagrant has not been reliably seen or photographed again since then. The Red Spot Sawtooth is not uncommon in Malaysia, and I have encountered it many times in several parts of Malaysia, usually puddling along sandy streambanks with many other species of butterflies.

4) The Lesser Albatross (Appias paulina distanti)


Two records of the Lesser Albatross was documented in Singapore.  Both were females and probably strays

Two females of this species, the Lesser Albatross, were spotted. First in 2005 and then again in 2014. The 2nd record was of a dead individual found in the north eastern part of Singapore in an urban residential development. Species of the Pieridae are fast flyers, some of which are known to display migratory tendencies.



However, the chance or opportunistic encounters of this species have fortunately been able to definitively identify that these vagrants visited Singapore. In flight, it may be difficult to separate the Lesser Albatross from many of the local species and unlikely to be identified with great confidence.


A trio of male Lesser Albatrosses puddling in Malaysia

It is a relatively common species in Malaysia, often puddling at sandy streambanks with many other species of Papilionidae and Pieridae. Males tend to congregate in numbers and are locally common. They are often difficult to separate from many of the white and yellow species from the family and not easy to identify when in flight.

5) The Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica indica)


A single Indian Red Admiral appeared for 3 days at Mount Faber Park in 2008, and has never been seen again in Singapore since then

In 2008, an individual of the Indian Red Admiral was spotted at Mount Faber Park. This vagrant would have travelled for thousands of miles for it to appear here in Singapore! It has not been recorded in Malaysia and this is the first record of its appearance in Singapore. The nearest known location of this species is in northern Thailand.



A native of India and Indo-China, the Indian Red Admiral is described as a montane species, preferring elevations of above 1,000m ASL. The individual that was observed in Singapore stayed at the same location for 3 days, and sighted by different photographers.



Again, how it ended up in Singapore remains a mystery. The species has not been observed since then. Such is the mystery of nature, and many of our encounters with these vagrants and strays often bewilder us butterfly enthusiasts when we suddenly see a species that is totally new to Singapore.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Khew SK, Loke PF and Mark Wong

The Return of the Admiral

The Return of the Admiral

The Indian Red Admiral calls at the port of Singapore again

A pristine Indian Red Admiral visits Singapore again in 2011!

Some time back in Dec 2008, the Indian Red Admiral (Vanessa indica) was spotted at an urban park in Singapore (see previous blog article). Back then, it was the first time anyone had spotted this species as far south as Singapore. It may have been a once-off occurrence, where a migrating individual could have have been blown off course by the strong North-East monsoons and it ended up taking refuge in Singapore.

Indian Red Admiral shot in Dec 2008

Then recently, on 8 Jan 2011, ButterflyCircle's eagle-eyed Sunny Chir again spotted this species puddling at the same urban park! Most amazingly, it was flying around in the exactly the same vicinity as the individual spotted over two years ago!

Indian Red Admiral shot on 8 Jan 2011

Is there some DNA imprinted code that makes this particular species come back again and again to the same location in Singapore? Was it part of a fixed migratory route or just pure coincidence? Did it return in 2009 and 2010, but just that no one spotted it? This particular individual came rather early in the year, or perhaps it was one of several of the same species that remained since the latter part of 2010.

Indian Red Admiral shot in Dec 2008

One of those intriguing mysteries in nature. This visiting Indian Red Admiral shot in 2011 appears too pristine to have suffered the battering winds and wear and tear of a long migratory flight. Perhaps the species has already established a colony in Singapore, and breeding new offspring somewhere, as the host plant is known to be some species of nettle (family : Urticaceae)

Indian Red Admiral shot on 8 Jan 2011

Who knows for sure? We just need to be continuously observant, and with a good dose of luck, like Sunny Chir seems to have, and we may just get our answer!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir & James Chia