Butterflies of Pulau Ubin Part 1

CH and I went to Ubin on two weekends (14 Dec and 28 Dec) last year. We found that Pulau Ubin is still one of the best places for butterfly watching and photography. 

A rather unusual lycaenid which could not fold its wings together so they remained open all the time - this male Cycad Blue (Chilades pandava pandava) was found along the fence overlooking the Pekan Quarry. 

 Another Cycad Blue with one extra spot on the hindwing was found a grass patch leading to the Butterfly Hill. A write-up on the possible variations of the markings can be found on the BC Blog .

It appears to me that the number of  visitors coming to Ubin on weekends has been increasing over the years. Despite the heavy traffic of cyclists along the gravel road outside the Nparks nursery, this worn Silver-forget-me-not (Catochrysops panormus exiguus)  remained quite still on its perch.

This upperside shot tells us that it was a female.

A small Potanthus skipper was zipping around on the Butterfly Hill. The markings and the veins of the wings suggest that it looks like a Potanthus ganda.

At a shady and mosquitoes-infested grass patch, a rather uncommon Common Redeye (Matapa aria) skipper appeared briefly. Highly sensitive to the camera flash light, it was shot in natural light.

This Lesser Darkie (Allotinus unicolor unicolor)  was rather alert too - it was found at the same place as the Common Redeye.

At the mangrove area along the Sensory Trail, I waited very patiently for this fluttering lycaenid to perch. At last it did and I had to react quickly before it took off again. I think this is the Singapore Fourline Blue (Nacaduba pavana singapura) - my last sighting of this species was at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve  some years ago.

A short but a good outing for me.