Sunday, January 11, 2009

Butterfly Species at Punggol Wasteland

Visiting the Punggol wasteland on a sunny Saturday (10 Jan 09) morning, I was "warmly" greeted with quite a number of orange skippers performing an open-winged ritual in the morning sun, with their hindwings fully open and forewings almost vertical like this picture shown here. Judging from the relatively small size and the hook-shaped tip of the antenane , I believe this is likely to be a Potanthus omaha omaha (Lesser Dart).
Another skipper looks like a Telicota besta bina was resting under shade. Oblivious to my presence, it did not bother me snapping a few shots. There were a fair amount of insect activities near this Cassia biflora - a known larval host plant of Catopsilia scylla cornelia (Orange Emigrant). Expectedly, there was a pair of Orange Emigrant frolicking nearby. A few steps away from the plant, I was rather fortunate to spot this relatively tame Orange Emigrant resting calmly, ignoring the occasionally strong morning breeze. At a closer look, I realised that the eye was opaque and it was not normal for Orange Emigrant. Since the discovery of this migrant Acraea violae (Tawny Coster) from the north, this plot of wasteland has become a popular hunting ground for ButterflyCircle members. Read here for more details. My very first sighting of this Rapala pheretima sequeira (Copper Flash) was high above my head on the Cassia biflora. With my persistence of waiting, this Copper Flash decided to reciprocate my patience by coming down to my eye level. I was fortunate to spot this rather drab but not-so-common Common Evening Brown (Melanitis leda leda). As this species usually loves the undergrowth, I was quite happy to get a shot even though it didn't offer me a single chance for a clean and green background shot.
While I was standing under a shady tree having few sips of water, this Euchrysops cnejus cnejus (Gram Blue) suddently perched and oviposited an egg on a flower bud of this attractive shrub Macroptilium lathyroides .

Other butterfly species observed between 9:30 - 12 : 30 .
1. Danaus genutia genutia (Common Tiger)
2. Hypolimnas bolina jacintha (Jacintha Eggfly)

5 comments:

  1. Keep up the good work Fed!

    Benetay

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  2. Nice blog and great stuff you are doing here.

    Cheers
    HenryKoh

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  3. These are beautiful photos. I am just beginning to photograph again after a long absence. I have also just opened a blog, but it can't match yours This evening I will go outside with my new macro lens and explore its possibilities for the first time. I have set you as my role model

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  4. Thanks Somerled for your kind words. Glad that you start to take macro shots again - a very rewarding hobby.
    May I know your blog's address ?
    BTW, do I know you personally ?

    ReplyDelete