Friday, August 13, 2010

Fraser's Hill Puddlers Part 2

Continue from my previous post.

The Great Orange Tip (Hebomoia glaucippe aturi) is a rather large pierid butterfly. It tested a few spots before it settled down quite tamely savouring the nutrient solution.My first encounter with a Spotted Sawtooth (Prioneris thestylis malaccana) was just next to a group of Swallowtail puddlers. A deformed paper cup on the right side of the picture really spoilt this shot.
Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida vasava) was in great numbers that they could obstruct our view of getting a clear shot on other puddling butterflies.
The grayish white ground colour of this lycaenid with speckled wings is likely to be a Malayan Sunbeam (Curetis santana malayica). When it is in flight, its prominent and striking apical orange patches on the uppersides will definitely tell you where it has gone to.

The White Four-line Blue (Nacaduba angusta kerriana) can also be found in Singapore though it is rather elusive and rare. It was re-discovered in late 2008 and within a short period of time, its life history was successfully recorded (see BC's blog). There were at least two species of small black-and-white lycaenids fluttering in the area but I managed to capture only this Banded Blue Pierrot (Discolampa ethion thalimar ) which was rather skittish and did not stay on the ground for long.This small lycaenid is Common Line-Blue (Prosotas nora superdates) which is fond on puddling on moist objects, hard or soft. A rather common species in Singapore as well that explains why many of us did not really have an interest in chasing it. I took a few shots hoping that it would be other species.
Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus goberus) is characterised by the little black dot on the hindwing dorsum - this is another common species most of us would not chase for a shot if we have other choices. A not-so-pristine Common Tit (Hypolycana erylus teatus) appeared while I was chasing and getting a shot of the Malayan Sunbeam.
According to Khew and a shot of the upperside of this brown skipper, it is Pithauria stramineipennis. Many of them were zipping and puddling along the riverbanks. This one looks like a Dark Banded Ace (Halpe ormenes vilasina) Initially I thought this was a Chestnut Bob (Iambrix salsala salsala) because of size and the wing shape. However, the forewing orange subapical patch and the absence of white spots on the hindwing suggest that it was another species. I guess it is Idmon obliquans obliquans.

This Plain Banded Awl (Hasora vitta vitta) woke up rather early in the morning looking for a sweet spot on the brickwall "puddling vertically".
Shooting puddling butterflies needs a lot of patience and luck as well even though there was a big group of them at times. Different species come and go and we cannot be sure when they will return again. However, over the years I have realised that the time of the day does play a part in determining which species would be likely to puddle.

2 comments:

  1. V V impressive leh!!!! my goodness. but looks like v hot weather leh, (or rather u would say that its good weather) else wont be able to take such good shots. the first photograph is scary for someone like me who is scared of creatures...so many of them clustering together...*shudder shudder* but v v nice!!!!

    ReplyDelete