Puddling Butterflies of Langkawi Part 1

Many thanks to my colleague who drove me from Fraser's Hill to the KLIA's Low Cost Terminal to catch an afternoon AirAsia flight to Langkawi on 7 Dec. The flight was delayed by almost an hour nevertheless it was a short and comfortable journey. It was my second time arriving at this small but cosy airport. I was quite surprised to know that the taxi fare from the airport to the town has been increased to $28 ringgit.

Finally I met CH at Azio Hotel in Kuah Town in the evening. We spent four days (8 to 11 Dec)  in Langkawi photographing at  Lubuk Semilang, Telaga Tujuh  and Kisap. It was my honour to witness two veterans Mr Teo and  Mr Neo working in the field who arrived in the early afternoon on 8 Dec.

Let me begin with some puddling butterfly shots. The Cirrochroa surya siamensis (The Little Yeoman) was rather common in Langkawi . It kept flapping its wings while puddling on the sandy ground at Telaga Tujuh.

The Malay Yeoman (Cirrochroa emalea emalea) was abundant. It could be spotted easily at Lubuk Semilang and Telaga Tujuh. I didn't bother to shoot them until this fellow stayed quite tame on a wet rock. 

I managed to take a shot of its undersides also.

This year I didn't see many Banded Grass Yellows (Eurema nicevillei nicevillei).When in flight, this species can be identified easily by a dorsal black band on its uppersides. 

A solitary Yellow Eurema simulatrix tecmessa was seen puddling along a sandy river bank.

This small lycaenid was seen puddling on a damp rock with moss at Lubuk Semilang - it is likely to be the  Nacaduba sanaya elioti.

I believe this is Nacaduba subperusia lysa which was taken on 8 Dec morning when only two of us, CH and I were exploring Lubuk Semilang.

This Nacaduba kurava was shot on a tarred road in Kisap on 11 Dec.

Here is another 6-lined Nacaduba species.

The Banded Peirrot (Discolampa ethion ethion)  wasn't vary common. I spotted only two different individuals - this one was seen at Kisap early in the morning.

Take a good look at this shot - do they look alike ? This is Elbowed Peirrot (Caleta elna elvira).

This shot was taken to ascertain if it was new to me - of course it was not. The Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa) was abundant along a slip road at Kisap.

The Common Line Blue (Prosotas nora superdates) was quite common at the Lubuk Semilang waterfall areas. 

There were many Lexis butterflies  flying past me along the forest paths. Occasionally, they just puddled in front of me. Both female and male Archduke (L. pardalis dirteana) love to look for food source on the ground. 

I was rather lucky to shoot two different but look-alike Sunbeams (Curetis species).This looks like the Curetis bulis stigmata which I shot last year.

This one looks more like the Curetis santana malayica (The Malayan Sunbeam) found at the waterfall at Lubuk Semilang.

I didn't get to see many Nawabs in this trip. This is  Polyura  moori moori  shot at the Lubuk Semilang waterfall.

A better specimen was found at the Telaga Tujuh.

Pity that this Charaxes bernardus Crepax (The Common Tawmy Rajah) wasn't pristine. Though it didn't stay long on the ground but it came back to the same spot a few times.

This year, I didn't get to see many Graphium species. Only the Blue Jay (Graphium evemon eventus) seemed to be very common.

 

It was a sunny and hot day at Telaga Tujuh on 9 Dec but butterfly activity was rather low. This was the result of a hasty shot of  an active and alert  Fivebar Swordtail (Pathysa antiphates itamputi ) at Telaga Tujuh.

To make up for the unsatisfactory framing of the Fivebar shot, I composed this Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa lambi) shot more carefully. 

More species will be featured in my next blog post.