Sunday, January 22, 2017

Butterflies of Lantau Island, Hong Kong Part 2

Another hunting ground is the San Tau village. From Tung Chung bus terminal , I took Bus 34 to Yat Tung Estate and walked leisurely on a foot path towards a coastal village.

The Neopithecops zalmora was taken last September during my first visit to this coastal village - there was a small colony there. I could still see them flying around during my subsequent visits in November and December. 
A female was trying to lay eggs on its host plant

White Dragontail (Lamprotera curius walkeri) is the only Dragontail butterfly we can find in Hong Kong - it is quite common. It was puddling on the footpath before settling down on a leaf for sunbathing.  
This Black Prince (Rohana parisatis) was extremely skittish and sensitive to movement. Whenever I approach closer it would take off - a quick shot was taken when it perched high on a tree. 
This is the dry-season form of the Chilades lajus - it was quite abundant in December.
An upper side shot of a male when it was exposed to the sunshine in a cool weather.
It was a pity that I scared this large fellow away when it was puddling on the ground behind a house. It lnaded on the flowers instead. A long-distance record shot of a female  (Euthalia phemius seitzi) was what I could do.
There were some wild Bidens flowers near a small temple. Here we could see some common butterflies busy feeding on the flowers on a sunny day.

This form catilla of the Catopsilia pomona pomona is rather rare in Singapore. However, I have encountered a number of times in Hong Kong.
A solitary Blue Spotted Crow (Euploea midamus) was feeding voraciously from flower to flower in a cool and breezy day.
Delias parsithoe was everywhere but it was not that easy to compose a good shot.
 At times she opened its wings to enjoy the heat from the sunshine
A large praying mantis was crawling on the handrail when we were heading out to the bus terminal at the Yat Tung Estate.
My friends and I also went to Tai O fishing village area in last November but the butterfly activities were rather low. A lycaenid flew past us and landed on a leaf - it looks like a Jamindes alecto.
This is a Dark Cerulean (Jamides bochus)