Butterflies of Northern Thailand Part 7 (Papilionidae and Pieridae)

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Butterflies in the Papilionidae family are usually showy, large and strong flyers. There are more than five hundred species worldwide. Let me begin with this Common Windmill (Byasa polyeuctes) which appeared on two consecutive days when we were at Chiangdao.

 It was nice to have two in one picture.

An upperside shot of a Common Windmil at the puddling ground.

The Great Windmill (Byasa dasarada) and the Common Windmill look alike.

We didn't get to see many Burmese Batwing (Atrophaneura varuna zaleucus ) in this trip

This is a Common Batwing (Atrophaneura varuna astorion)

A Redbreast (Papilio alcmenor f. leucocelis) rested on ferns at Chiangdao.

A pristine female Great Mormon (Papiliio memnon f agenor) at Mae Kampong.

Of course the Paris Peacock (Papilio paris paris) and the Green Dragontail (Lamprotera meges) were plentiful as usual at the Chiangdao

We didn't get to see and shoot many butterflies from the Pieridae family in this trip.

The subspecies indica of the Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparate) in Chiangmai  is more yellowish on the underside of the hindwing.

The Cepora nadina nadina (The Lesser Gull) was quite abundant at three different locations we stopped by in Mae Kampong.

This is the Hill Jezebel (Delias belladonna hedybia) found at Chiangdao puddling ground.

I have come to the end of this series of blog posts that showcase some butterflies found in areas around Chiang Mai -  Yes, I have taken too long to complete it.   

I had a wonderful time with Antonio in the field. A bonus I got from this trip was getting to know Andy Ho from Hong Kong and shooting together with at Doi Suthep on 16 Oct 2018 before my afternoon flight back to Singapore.

Once again, I must thank Antonio for bringing me around and making all the necessary arrangement for making this trip possible.  See you next time perhaps not in Chiang Mai again.

Butterflies of Northern Thainland Part 6 (Satyrinae Subfamily)

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Satyrinae is one of the largest subfamilies of the family Nymphalidae.

The genus Elymnias species are commonly called Palmfly. The Spotted Palmfly (Elymnias malelas malelas) has very nice shimmering iridescent blue on the upper side of the  forewings.

The Tiger Palmfly (Elymnias nesaea) appeared at Chiangdao puddling ground - this was a new addition to my photo collection of butterflies of Chaingmai.   

A male Red-tailed Forester (Lethe sinorix sinorix) stayed rather still on the ground - this particular spot attracted some other butterflies too.

Another specimen was spotted at a higher altitude at Chinagdao.

An upperside shot.

The Banded Treebrown (Lehe confusa confuse) was 'hopping around' - not new to me, so I gave up chasing it after taking this shot. 

I saw quite a few Ring butterflies (Ypthima  species) at Doi Chiangdao but they were rather alert and rarely gave me a good pose with a longer duration. This was a snap shot of  the Ypthima savara.

In the field, I wasn't very sure which Fivering this was. I think this is a Common Fivering (Y. baldus). 

A mating pair of the Y. savara

When there was nothing else to shoot, an unattractive but docile Ypthima confusa could be quite rewarding.

Very often we could find the Bushbrown (Mycalesis species) amongst the Rings. Looking at the prominent white band, we could understand why this is called the White-line Bushbrown (M. malsara).

The postdiscal ocelli (eyespots) of the Mycalesis suaveolens are usually very small.

It was a 'quiet' day when we were at Mae Kampong. In the late afternoon, we encountered  a fast-flying and large butterfly teasing us. Antonio was able to identify it as the White Owl (Neorina patria). Indeed it was a White Owl when it finally perched on top of some leaf litters.  

We had to trek quite a bit before we encountered a Tiger Brown (Orinoma damaris)  - an uncommon species.  When it t flew past us and landed on a leaf surface at our eye level, we quickly took some shots.

To be continued.